"The retirement of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is removing one of the biggest obstacles to the construction of a nuclear waste site at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

For more than a decade, Reid has used his leadership position to block the Yucca project, which Congress designated as the nation’s permanent disposal site for high-level nuclear waste in 1987.

Supporters of Yucca say Reid’s retirement could shake up the debate over the project and prompt lawmakers — particularly Democrats — to take a second look."

Timothy Cama reports for The Hill April 4, 2015. [2]