Editorial: Mothballing dump would be grand idea

Friday, June 1, 2001 | 9:18 a.m.

Nevadans repeatedly have said how irresponsible -- and dangerous -- it has been to consider only Yucca Mountain as a permanent home for 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. Well, as the Sun's Mary Manning reported Wednesday, the principal author of the policy that identified Yucca Mountain as a possible site for a repository is now saying that the project "should be put in mothballs."

Why the turnaround by W. Kenneth Davis, who was a Department of Energy undersecretary from 1981 to 1983? Davis not only says that he doesn't think a repository can get the needed license to operate, but he also mentions Nevada's strong opposition as to why a repository here should be abandoned. It also bears mentioning that Davis' original proposal was much different. There were supposed to be at least two dumps in the nation, and the repository at Yucca Mountain would only be temporary.

The concerns of Nevadans often are unfairly dismissed as self-serving. Policymakers in Washington pay scant attention to the facts uncovered so far as to how dangerous storing waste in Nevada would be. Maybe now that a former high-ranking DOE official has come forward, and even shared his worries about Yucca Mountain in a memo to the White House, individuals like President Bush and members of Congress finally will start to give us a fair shake.