H.R. 10143: Jobs, Not Waste Act of 2026

This bill would end the federal licensing process for using Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a nuclear waste repository. In plain terms, it would stop the government’s current effort to approve Yucca Mountain as a permanent storage site for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste.

What the bill would change

• It repeals certain legal provisions that support the Yucca Mountain licensing process.
• It withdraws the Department of Energy’s application for construction authorization for a repository at Yucca Mountain.
• It ends the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s licensing proceeding for that proposed repository.
• It bars the Secretary of Energy from considering or reconsidering Yucca Mountain as a repository site in the future.

What would happen at the site

• The Department of Energy would be directed to take reasonable steps to reclaim the Yucca Mountain site.
• It would also have to mitigate any significant environmental damage caused by site characterization and related activities tied to the repository application.

Study on alternative uses

The bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to submit a study to Congress within 180 days. That study would examine whether other uses of the Yucca Mountain site could be economically viable and create jobs. The bill specifically mentions possible uses such as:

• Defense-related activities, including a command facility for unmanned aircraft systems
• Renewable energy development
• Scientific research

Relevant Companies

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