LAS VEGAS — The federal government is acknowledging it has been shipping mixed radioactive waste from a nuclear cleanup site in Idaho to Nevada for disposal.
In a statement following a protest letter from U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, the Energy Department said about enough material to fill five Olympic-sized swimming pools has been sent since 2009 from a former dump at the Idaho National Laboratory to the Nevada National Security Site. The Energy Department says the Nevada state Division of Environmental Protection participates in pre-disposal documentation and review of the material.
The state and federal government have clashed in the past over shipments of radioactive materials to the vast former government nuclear test site in Nevada.
Titus publicly protested the dump in a statement this week, writing that, "Nevada is not America's dumping ground."
Since I learned about the proposed transfer of nuclear waste from Idaho, I've had concerns. Until I receive satisfactory answers to all of my questions, I will continue to voice opposition to any transfers of nuclear material.
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) January 11, 2022
Nevada is not America's dumping ground. pic.twitter.com/q0Lqprlx61
"Since I learned about the proposed transfer or nuclear waste from Idaho, I've had concerns. Until I receive satisfactory answers to all of my questions, I will continue to voice my opposition to any transfers of nuclear material."
