Walden (R-OR) is Ranking Republican on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. The politically powerful committee has jurisdiction over commercial irradiated nuclear fuel policy, such as the Yucca Mountain dump targeted at Western Shoshone Indian land in Nevada, and Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities (currently targeted at the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas).

Walden has long led the advocacy for such dangerously bad nuclear power industry schemes.