Dear Secretary Chu:

I applaud your decision to allow the Yucca Mountain license application review to continue. Providing the appropriate funding necessary to allow further progress toward approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, while simultaneously exploring alternatives is critically important.

It is clear that any review of spent fuel disposition options should be transparent, participatory, collaborative and based on science -- without foreclosing the $10 billion investment in Yucca Mountain, circumventing the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and exacerbating the mounting multi-billion dollar Federal legal liability. It is time to let science lead this effort and not politics.

Please continue to demonstrate leadership on behalf of Yucca Mountain and other nuclear energy issues. Nuclear energy is vital to our nation's energy security, environmental progress and economic competitiveness.

Sincerely,