The Energy Problem No One is Addressing

By Chris Moyer

I lost track of how many times I wrote about Yucca Mountain.

More than a decade ago, working as a press staffer for former Nevada Senator Harry Reid, it was drilled into me that the federal government’s plan to store nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas was a non-starter. Even my writing test for the job involved reacting to a new twist in the Yucca Mountain saga.

I can still recite our statements from memory: “It makes no sense to ship nuclear waste only 90 miles from the world’s premiere tourist destination—the Las Vegas Strip.”

Senator Reid led the fight to kill the project, blocking every dollar in the federal budget that might have kept it alive. Nearly every Nevadan, across party lines, agreed that Yucca was the wrong place for nuclear waste.

So when the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled on a potential waste site in Texas, I couldn’t help but notice the echoes. A spokesperson for Republican Governor Greg Abbott declared: “Gov. Abbott will not allow illegal dumping of ultra-hazardous spent nuclear fuel near the world’s largest producing oilfield.”

Whether it’s “the world’s premier tourist destination” or “the world’s largest producing oilfield,” state and local officials will always have a reason to oppose nuclear waste storage in their backyard.

Nuclear Waste Storage Faces Firm Opposition in New Mexico, Too 

The Court’s ruling also seemed to clear the way for storage in New Mexico. Yet Axios reported last week that the company behind the project acknowledged state opposition remains a major roadblock. Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has been unequivocal: “I will use every tool in my toolbox” to keep nuclear waste out of New Mexico.

Which leads to the question: what do we do with the nearly 100,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel—enough to fill roughly 250 airplanes, with much more coming—already stranded at sites around the country?

The short answer: there is no answer. But the urgency to find one is growing.

Nuclear Power Stages a Comeback Amid Data Center Boom and Policy Support

Nuclear energy is experiencing a revival. Hyperscalers building data centers are moving to restart Three Mile Island and develop other nuclear projects. The Trump administration has rolled out executive actions to bolster the industry. And lawmakers, at the urging of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, spared nuclear from tax credit rollbacks in the megalaw that passed in July.

At the same time, advanced nuclear technologies are delivering power more efficiently while generating less waste. Yet the U.S. still faces nearly 50 years’ worth of accumulated waste with no permanent solution in sight.

But while bipartisan support for nuclear has grown, especially as many progressives have come to see it as essential to decarbonization, bipartisan opposition to permanent waste storage isn’t going anywhere. Politically, it’s easy to say “not in my state.”

As nuclear ramps up to meet relatively short-term energy needs, the long-term waste challenge—a permanent geologic repository—will only loom larger. For now, the incentives all run against solving the problem. And it’s hard to see how that changes anytime soon.

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