In this National Public Radio interview with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, he briefly discusses the reasons behind Yucca's shutdown. Er, did I remember things differently, or were, oh, safety issues concerning long-term nuke waste storage in a dormant volcano a teensy weensy concern? Chu chalks the shutdown up to: Gee, the folks in Nevada were so darn crotchety and riled up!

KELLY: Let me ask you about where to store nuclear waste, and I'm talking about the controversy over Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Obama administration put the brakes on plans to build a waste storage site there. Those were plans that had been in the works for decades. Why that decision?

Sec. CHU: Well, if you look at the growing resistance of the people in Nevada, instead of having this constant struggle that was going to be going on for the ensuing years, I think the president said let's wait, let's assign a very distinguished commission, so-called blue ribbon commission, to make recommendations on how you really want to deal with the back end of the nuclear cycle.