Letter: Environmental report on Yucca honest, objective
Friday, Aug. 20, 1999 | 12:45 p.m.
In the Sun's Aug. 10 editorial regarding the Department of Energy's (DOE) Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Yucca Mountain, you observe that "the report doesn't even address basic requirements typically found in environmental impact statements."
What you neglected to mention was that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, directs that the DOE need not discuss these issues. An EIS written in 1980 addressed alternative management strategies and determined the need for a repository. It was that EIS that led to the passage of the 1982 law adopting geologic disposal as our national policy.
The editorial states that in the Draft EIS, "DOE also neglected to address transportation in any serious manner." This statement is misleading.
The Draft EIS contains over 250 pages of information discussing the environmental impacts of transportation. What the document does not do is identify specific routes. This is entirely appropriate.
The Department of Transportation regulations that govern route selection stipulate that interstate highways are to be used unless states designate preferred alternatives.
Finally, the editorial impugns the work of DOE scientists by remarking that the Draft EIS "reads as if it had been written by nuclear power lobbyists, not scientists..."
The truth is this document should ease any concerns Nevadans may have about the DOE's scientific objectivity. It calculates and discloses the potential risks of proceeding with Yucca Mountain without any attempt to hide that there are potential risks. It openly admits there are uncertainties in the risk calculations and discloses those uncertainties honestly and openly.
We believe it is an objective report. It is also a draft EIS. We would hope that you would point out to your readers that now is the opportunity for citizens to read and comment on it, so the final EIS can be even better.
ALLEN BENSON Director, Department of Energy Institutional Affairs
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Freddie Roach talks tough; Manny Pacquiao backs it up
- Live Main Event blog: Cada and Moon set to square off heads-up
- Commercial development in Las Vegas grinding to a halt, analyst says
- Ensign moves out of home on C Street
- County considers suing over travel Web site room taxes
- Cada and Moon emerge as Main Event’s final two
- Cities, county find buying valley homes isn’t easy
- Life in the Limelight: Wayne Newton
- Temperature to hit 80 today in Las Vegas
- UNLV wins hoops scrimmage at Long Beach State
Blogs
The Kats Report
Buchanan was one of the city's truly flamboyant characters
Sports: Upon Further Review
Fight snapshot: Reviewing "24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto," episode 3
The Kats Report
Life in the Limelight: Wayne Newton (4 Comments)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
An entire campaign in one mail piece for Harry Reid (5 Comments)
Miech Again
On the road to Long Beach, UNLV hoops style (13 Comments)
The Kats Report
Vocal strain prompts Wayne Brady to call off 'Making It Up' until 2010 (1 Comment)
The Greene Room
New Mexico soccer player goes MMA on BYU (16 Comments)
Calendar »
- 8 Sun
- 9 Mon
- 10 Tue
- 11 Wed
- 12 Thu
-
76 Trombones + 4 concert at Artemus Ham Hall
Artemus Ham Hall at UNLV | 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
-
The Smothers Brothers at The Orleans Showroom
The Orleans Showroom
-
Abbacadabra at The Las Vegas Hilton
Las Vegas Hilton
-
Roy Clark at The South Point Showroom
South Point Showroom
-
Zowie Bowie's Vintage Vegas Show at Monte Carlo
Lance Burton Theater
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati








