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Gillibrand 'vehemently' opposed to Nevada's Yucca Mountain

Posted at 8:23 AM, May 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-07 11:23:09-04

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kirsten Gillibrand says she's deeply opposed to a revived plan to store the nation's nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas.

The Democratic presidential candidate told reporters at a campaign stop in Las Vegas that she "vehemently" opposes the plan that the Trump administration has revived.

Nevada has long fought the effort to store the waste about 100 miles from Las Vegas, arguing that the site about 100 miles from Las Vegas unsuitable to safely store radioactive material from elsewhere in the U.S.

Gillibrand is one of six Democratic presidential candidates and senators who has signed on to legislation from Nevada's two senators that would block the waste from stored in the state.

The New York senator says communities and states need to decide if they want to house nuclear waste because if it's being transported through their communities, it puts their population at risk.

The senator is making her second visit to Nevada this year.