More Change I Hope They Didn't Believe In

Despite Obama's campaign promises the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository lives!

WASHINGTON -- The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste plan was kept alive Tuesday when a panel of judges ruled the Obama administration does not have the authority to withdraw the project without permission from Congress.

Federal law requires the Department of Energy to apply for a waste repository license and for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to evaluate the application and rule on its merits unless lawmakers decide otherwise, according to a three-judge board that hears commission licensing matters.

...

The decision is a setback for the Obama administration, which has been moving to shut down the Nevada project in fulfillment of a campaign pledge to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a longtime Yucca foe.

The court may be able to prevent the application from being withdrawn, but they can't force the DOE to move it forward:

The program has been zeroed out of President Barack Obama's 2011 budget, and the hundred or so people remaining at work in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., are retiring, transferring or preparing to be laid off.

But the political winds may shift:

Reid's Republican opponent in their Senate race, Sharron Angle, wants to develop Yucca as a site for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for use as energy.

Angle opposes using the site as a "dumping ground" for nuclear waste -- something Southern Nevadans have fought for years -- but argues hundreds of jobs can be created at Yucca if it becomes a center for nuclear energy generation.

Tuesday's ruling by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board promises months more of legal maneuvering over the repository that seems certain to extend beyond the November elections, said Lake Barrett, a retired DOE manager who was a director of the Yucca program from 1993 to 2002.

"This is a long way from being over," Barrett said. "This was round two of a 15-rounder."

My modest proposal - Obama can fulfill two promises by transferring the Gitmo prisoners to Yucca Mountain.

Comments

[Neo]

Remember that 73% of the cost of this facility will be paid for by a proposed one mill ($0.001) per kilowatt-hour fee charged to generators of commercial spent nuclear fuel (the other 27% will be paid with tax money to cover the storage of nuclear weapons bi-products).
The nuclear operators have been setting aside moneys for the final disposal of their spent nuclear fuel for some time now, so this involves a bucket of cash.

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 15 at Raz today. Order has been restored.

[But Obama's conduct was egregious in this affair. Heh, and many others.]

Becoming irrelevant. Nuclear wastes can be reprocessed better, leaving less waste, and the unprocessible residue can be dropped in the bottom of the deep oceanic trenches, where nothing can happen to them for many half lives except be silted over.
==================

[Neo]

... but when you're losing Bob Herbert, it's still pretty bad ...

It’s getting harder and harder for most Americans, looking honestly at the state of the nation, to see the glass as half full. And that’s why the public opinion polls contain nothing but bad news for Barack Obama and the Democrats.
The oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the war in Afghanistan and, above all, the continuing epidemic of joblessness have pushed the nation into a funk. All the crowing in the world about the administration’s legislative accomplishments — last year’s stimulus package, this year’s health care reform, etc. — is not enough to lift the gloom.

... OMG, he said "funk"

[Jane]

Finally someone said "no" to Mr Power grabber. Boy that Harry Reid sure is a sucker.

[Play that funky music, white boy.]

Yeah, Neo, and our 'funky President' has moved from the second definition of 'having an earthy style and feel' to the first definition of 'having an offensive odor'.
============

[Danube of Thought]

The always excellent Noemie Emery hits the nail on the head concerning our failed president.

[Rob Crawford]

Huh. No coal -- the president will ensure you go broke if you try to use it. No oil -- the president (ab)used his power to make a spill worse, then blamed the industry for it and banned drilling for it. No nuclear -- because the left won't let us deal with the issue they complain about the most.

All that's left are the fairy-fart fantasies of "green energy", none of which are reliable, let alone economical.

It's almost as if they want us to die hungry and cold in the dark.

[Danube of Thought]

Unexpected, from Reuters:

U.S. private employers added just 13,000 jobs in June, according to a report published Wednesday that suggested expectations of a big drop in the government's upcoming nonfarm payrolls report were on target.

The ADP Employer Services report also said May's gain was revised marginally higher to 57,000 from the original estimate of 55,000.

That revision was basically the only good news, however, in a report that under-shot expectations of a rise of 60,000 private-sector jobs in June.

It also supported fears that the short and tepid recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s was fizzling.

"There is really no way to characterize this number other than disappointing," said Macroeconomic Advisers LLC chairman Joel Prakken, whose firm jointly developed the ADP report. "The overall number tells you that the recovery in the jobs market is very, very sluggish at this point."

[Jane]

Expect the market to plummet.

[MaryD]

DoT, another part of the article you quote states "However, a gain in private payrolls of 112,000 is also expected in Friday's payrolls report". How do you reconcile that with the 13,000 number? I'm confused!

[PDinDetroit]

Expect the market to plummet.

You mean my new 2010 Yellowstone US Quarter will not be worth as much now?

[fdcol63]

Expect the market to plummet.

Expect my disgust with Obama and the Dems to deepen.

[Melinda Romanoff]

MaryD-

Rule of thumb for the ADP # is to add 100K for the nonfarm # for this Friday.

[MaryD]

Thanks, Melinda. I obviously need to read up on this.

[jimmyk]

It all depends on the census employment I would think. ADP is private only, but government isn't usually that big except around census time. I don't know if those jobs are ending yet.

[Spaceman]

The decision on Yucca now shifts to the NRC. The Chairman of the NRC is Greg Jackzo, who prior to getting appointed to the NRC was Harry Reid's science adviser. As Reid's science advisor, his primary mission was to keep Yucca Mountain from being built.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Thanks for that little tidbit, that's a good one.

[Benny]

Obama's Re-Election Promise

The promise of "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" can be traced to Hoover's 1928 Presidential campaign.
Well, Obama has twisted these words and is promising that if he is re-elected there will be "a chick in every car and some pot in every garage!"
Obama's Re-Election Promise

The promise of "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" can be traced to Hoover's 1928 Presidential campaign.
Well, Obama has twisted these words and is promising that if he is re-elected there will be "a chick in every car and some pot in every garage!"