The Ginormous Problem With Trump’s Energy Plans That No One Wants to Touch

Before Trump can boost nuclear energy, the United States will have to figure out what to do with nuclear waste.

Columbia Generating Station

Radiation warning signage is seen at Columbia Generating Station, a nuclear energy facility in Sunnyside, Wash. Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO/AP

The Biden administration, the incoming Trump administration, nearly all of Congress, the big tech companies and even many environmental groups agree on one thing: It’s time for new nuclear power in the United States.

There’s just one pretty major obstacle nobody wants to touch: what to do about all of the spent fuel waste.

Since the poisonous 20-year fight over the idea of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain ended in 2011 with the Obama White House calling the idea quits, members of Congress have avoided the issue.