WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is taking the first step toward moving away from building a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada by slashing money for the program in his first budget.
Congressional sources have told The Associated Press that Obama's budget to be released Thursday will provide only enough money for the Yucca project for the Energy Department to answer questions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the license application.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Obama's decision to cut Yucca funding is the most significant victory yet to block the dump from being built 90 miles from Las Vegas. The Yucca project was proposed more than two decades ago to hold radioactive waste from power plants.
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