Editorial: Bomber burn tests rightfully get axed

Tuesday, March 7, 2000 | 9:08 a.m.

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson recently decided the Energy Department will forgo its plans to burn B-52 bomber parts at the Tonopah Test Range in Southern Nevada, tests that the department said would have studied the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons in an accident involving fire. This halt certainly is excellent news, considering the unanswered environmental questions associated with burning toxic materials, such as depleted uranium and beryllium.

Nevada too often is viewed as a dumping ground, and this was a dubious plan -- at best -- from the start. That it got as far as it did is troubling, but fortunately Richardson showed good sense in rejecting this proposal after Sen. Harry Reid voiced his objections.

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