MERCURY, Nev. – Six U.S. Congress members visited the mothballed site of a proposed national nuclear waste repository outside Las Vegas, where one said Congress should make a decision about entombing the nation’s spent reactor fuel in Nevada.
Republican Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois stood at the entrance to the Yucca Mountain tunnel and said Thursday that studies have been done and the process should move forward.
Republican U.S. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada didn’t make the trip. He derided it as a political sideshow, with no state experts invited.
The tour came just weeks after one of the nuclear dump’s staunchest opponents, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, announced he’ll retire after 2016.
Heller says Nevadans don’t want the Yucca Mountain project.
Nevada’s newest congressional member, Republican Cresent Hardy, said on the trip that he’s willing to support the project if Nevada gains benefits in return.
