President-elect reaffirms commitment to stop the dump

January 5, 2009

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement after discussing the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

"President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and I had a very good conversation concerning Yucca Mountain.  As Nevadans know, Obama visited our state 20 times during the campaign.  He knows the risks associated with this project and is aware that the vast majority of Nevadans oppose it.  During our conversation, the President-elect reiterated his promise to work with me to prevent the dump from ever being built.  The first step is to make even deeper budget cuts this year than I have already been able to make in the past.  Yucca Mountain was a dangerous proposition from the start and I am very pleased that President-elect Obama shares my commitment to come up with a more responsible solution to our nation's nuclear waste challenges."

###