Senators approved Dan Brouillette of Texas, an executive at USAA insurance company, by a 79-17 vote yesterday.
Brouilette won the endorsement of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in June, but his confirmation as deputy secretary was held up by Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, a staunch opponent of the Yucca Mountain project.
Heller, Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and other Nevada lawmakers say the project poses significant public safety and environmental threats and is overwhelmingly opposed by Nevada residents.
Brouillette, who has been at USAA since 2006, has lobbied for Ford Motor Company and was staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He worked at the Energy Department under President George W Bush.
Heller said in a statement yesterday that he remains concerned "not only with the Department of Energy's disregard for the significant public safety and environmental threats associated with reviving Yucca Mountain, but also its dismissal of a consent-based approach as a viable solution to our country's nuclear waste problem."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content