Editorial: Expressing doubts over nuke dump

Tuesday, June 5, 2001 | 8:57 a.m.

When President Bush unveiled his national energy plan last month, things looked bleak for Nevada. After all, the president was calling for the development of more nuclear power. And the more nuclear power that's used, the more deadly waste it produces, which in turn increases the pressure to build a nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

In the three weeks since Bush announced his energy plan, however, there has been an interesting new take on nuclear waste storage. Instead of talk about what a done deal this is, there now is momentum building that questions Yucca Mountain's suitability in safely storing 77,000 tons of nuclear waste. The change in party control of the Senate -- and with it the elevation of Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid as assistant majority leader -- has been the principal reason for optimism. The new Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, said last week that he thought Yucca Mountain would be a "dead" issue as long as Democrats were in control. And a former high-ranking Department of Energy official, who originated the idea of storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, now says that a dump here should be abandoned.

Despite the promising trend, the reality is that Nevada still is facing a tough battle since the Department of Energy is moving forward with its suitability study of Yucca Mountain. The next step is up to the Bush administration, which has been on record as supporting the need for a central repository. Still, it is hoped that the White House listens to the growing chorus of skepticism about Yucca Mountain and finally puts an end to this dangerous idea.