Bush policies revive push for Yucca dump

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2006/feb/25/566678828.html

WASHINGTON - Bolstered by President Bush's call for a nuclear energy renaissance, the nuclear power industry is launching what it describes as the most ambitious campaign in its history to try to shift public opinion in its favor.

At the same time, the industry's leading trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, is trying to persuade the Bush administration and Congress to move even more aggressively to develop Yucca Mountain as a waste repository. The institute has given the administration a list of five steps it could take to clear hurdles to construction of Yucca.

The nuclear industry has been emboldened in recent years by the Bush administration's commitment to nuclear power. Bush has proposed using government money to help the industry construct a new generation of plants.

This year Bush went further, unveiling the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, with the goal of building nuclear plants not just in the United States, but around the world. At its heart is a proposal to develop waste-recycling technology - and to keep Yucca on track.

<more>