Despite hauling pact, nuclear waste not budging

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20131013/NEWS/131019516/1685#despite-hauling-pact-nuclear-waste-not-budging

By Joe Duggan

BROWNVILLE, Neb. — Back in the early 1980s, the federal government offered what sounded like a reasonable deal to nuclear plants in Nebraska and other states.

It went something like this: Pay us to take your most highly radioactive waste — material that is potent for 10,000 years — and we'll store it in a secure underground repository.

Since then, customers who buy nuclear-generated electricity from the Nebraska Public Power District and the Omaha Public Power District have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the federal government.

But they've received nothing in return. Funding for a plan to build a national repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been blocked by opponents, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of that state.

FULL story at link.