Not on my watch

[darrels joy]

Not on my watch

Candidate says Yucca a non-starter if he's elected

By JOHN KERRY
SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

One of the biggest environmental and security challenges facing Nevadans is the threat that Yucca Mountain will be turned into the nation's nuclear waste dump. I voted against the plan to dispose of waste at Yucca Mountain -- and as president I will fight against it.

Four years ago in a letter to Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, then-candidate George W. Bush pledged he would approve a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain only if it was scientifically proven to be safe and secure. But before his first year in office was over, President Bush changed his position and approved the plan -- placing the profits of the nuclear power industry above the safety of Nevada families.

Today George Bush is still trying to move forward with this misguided plan, despite the overwhelming opposition from Nevadans and the scientific evidence that it is unsafe.

Two major scientific bodies have sounded alarms about Yucca Mountain. First, an independent commission advising Congress on Yucca Mountain determined that the metal to be used for the waste containers would corrode , leaking nuclear radiation into the surrounding environment. The Bush administration knew this when it approved the Yucca Mountain site , but unfortunately ignored it.

Second, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) -- the final judge of whether a safe waste repository can be built at Yucca Mountain -- recently warned the Department of Energy that its proposed license to build Yucca Mountain was in inadequate shape. Apparently, despite billions of dollars and decades of research, DOE still lacks the technical and scientific information required to even submit the license application for review. The department's inability to produce information supporting the safety of the project speaks volumes.

Despite this scientific evidence, the Bush administration is rushing to meet an arbitrary, self-imposed deadline of December 2004. The risks are tragically clear. In January, we learned that workers who dug a test tunnel at Yucca were exposed to hazardous dust and mineral hazards. Evidence shows that the Bush administration was aware of these risks and the procedures required to protect them. But pressure to keep the project on schedule pushed safety into the back seat. Tragically, many of these workers are now sick.

It's a shame that the Bush administration has put the financial interests of the nuclear industry above the health and safety of DOE workers and Nevadans. I believe there is a better way to secure Nevada's health, environmental and financial well-being. That includes putting a stop to the dump once and for all.

John Kerry, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. Department of Energy began studying Yucca Mountain, Nevada, in 1978 to determine whether it would be suitable for the nation's first long-term geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Currently stored at 131 sites around the nation, these materials are a result of nuclear power generation and national defense programs.

On July 23, 2002, President Bush signed House Joint Resolution 87, allowing the DOE to take the next step in establishing a safe repository in which to store our nation's nuclear waste. The Department of Energy is currently in the process of preparing an application to obtain the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to proceed with construction of the repository.
------------------------------------------------------------
DOE has been studying this since 1978 and a Joint House Resolution was signed in 2002. Many agreements and compacts have been negotiated over that time to get to here but Kerry is saying that he (if elected) can bring the process to a complete halt.

I think he overestimates the power of the President of the Unites States.

In Washington State there is a ballot measure to stop all deliveries of nuclear waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until the site is completely cleaned up. That's right. Throw out all the agreements and compacts that took years to negotiate between all the nuclear sites for the length of the cleanup. The voters in Seattle/Tacoma will decide.