(Washington D.C.) – Today,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Energy and
Water Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement after the
Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future announced it would hold its
next meeting at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation on July 14th and 15th.
“This will not be an
audition for making Hanford a permanent repository for nuclear waste. It
will be an opportunity for the Commission to see first-hand the pressing need
to move waste off-site as workers continue to clean up and shrink the footprint
of the site.
“The charge of
this Commission is to take a broad look at nuclear issues. While the Commission
will not be looking at specific repository sites, I am disappointed the Obama
Administration has dismissed out of hand any discussion of Yucca Mountain and I
have made clear I will fight any attempt to make Hanford the site for a permanent repository.
“The federal government
has a legal obligation to provide a permanent repository, and to remove the
waste from Hanford. I look forward to working with the Commission members
to educate them about the tremendous sacrifices and contributions of the
Hanford community, and to ensuring that the federal government lives up to its
obligation.”
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