The President’s budget ends funding for the Yucca Mountain project, which was intended to be a permanent nuclear waste disposal site. However, the federal government is still contractually obligated to permanently dispose of civilian nuclear waste, and Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chu has called for a “Blue Ribbon Commission” to develop a new strategy for nuclear waste disposal. It is unclear how much this commission, or their proposals for nuclear waste disposal, will eventually cost taxpayers. The majority of DOE’s proposed $2 billion budget increase, $1.3 billion, would go toward securing defense-related nuclear projects including nonproliferation activities.
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