US House Backs National Nuclear Dump Project

CIVIL NUCLEAR

out of sight out of mind

Washington (AFP) May 9, 2002
In a victory for President George W. Bush, the House of Representatives has voted to approve a plan that creates a giant national repository of nuclear waste in the western state of Nevada, over fierce opposition by local residents.

But the 306-117 vote in favor of the plan has also opened another major environmental debate just weeks after Bush's failure to secure Congress' permission to drill for oil in an Arctic nature preserve in Alaska.

The resolution adopted Wednesday expressed support for the president's decision to store tonnes of radioactive nuclear waste, coming mostly from the nation's 103 nuclear power plants, in tunnels drilled under Yucca Mountain in the western part of Nevada.

"That nuclear waste is going to go somewhere," said Democratic Congressman John Dingell. "Right now it is scattered around the country in all kinds of places, and it's creating hazards for your constituents and mine."

But Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, who like most politicians in the state has been fighting the proposal tooth and nail, said the vote amounted to a lost battle but not the war.

"We will continue our battle in the US Senate -- which has yet to vote on the bill -- and on a parallel track in the courts," he said in a statement.

The governor predicted Yucca Mountain will become a national issue if 77,000 tonnes of nuclear waste begin traveling down highways past 123 million people in 43 states.

The federal government has spent nearly 20 years and seven billion dollars studying the site and has determined that that there is no better solution for the nuclear waste problem.

According to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, nuclear waste dumps scattered all around the country create a security hazard, particularly in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Currently 161 million people live within 120 kilometers (75 miles) of some nuclear dump, Abraham said.

Spent radioactive fuel and nuclear waste are currently stored at more than 130 location all over the United States, according to industry officials.

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CIVIL NUCLEAR

New Research Could Spearhead Permanent Nuclear Waste Storage

West Lafayette - May 07, 2002
Researchers armed with a laser are closer to knowing how to prepare millions of gallons of highly radioactive nuclear waste for permanent storage.

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