The U.S. House voted 306 to 117 yesterday to move forward with the Bush administration’s plan to store the nation’s nuclear waste under Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. The overwhelming vote — which overrode the veto of the plan by Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) — was expected. Now the battle moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Majority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have promised to derail the plan, despite long odds. Opponents argue that the science in support of the plan is faulty, that the feds have misled citizens on nuclear issues many times in the past, and that transporting tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste to Nevada from nearly 40 other states would risk hijacking by terrorists.
