Editorial: Yucca proposal is awful idea

Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001 | 8:44 a.m.

The federal government, working with local and state officials, mostly has come up with reasonable plans to prepare for potential terrorism threats. But there are others that have been poorly thought-out, including one by Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska. On Tuesday the Alaska Republican told a Senate committee, which is considering anti-terrorism legislation, that the best way to protect nuclear waste from terrorism is by shipping it to Nevada. Murkowski for years has led the charge in Congress to send the nation's 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste to Nevada's Yucca Mountain, so it isn't too surprising that he would try to jump aboard the anti-terrorism train with this proposal.

Murkowski contends that keeping the waste all in one location is the best way to fend off terrorist attacks. What he neglects to mention, however, is that leaving the waste at guarded nuclear power plants is much safer than hauling the waste to Nevada.

But Murkowski would rather take his chances with shuttling man's deadliest waste around the nation, radioactive garbage that would have to travel through at least 43 states before it would arrive in Nevada. It's also estimated that it could take as many as 100,000 shipments -- over our nation's highways and by rail -- to deliver nuclear waste to Nevada from the 103 nuclear power plants in the United States. Even if terrorists didn't go after these shipments, which could be a tempting target for them, the odds of an accident occurring are great enough that the nuclear waste should stay where it is.

In the wake of what happened Sept. 11, some members of Congress believe they can resurrect their moribund and controversial proposals by saying that they're essential in the war against terrorism. A Washington Post editorial last month dubbed as "hitchhikers" those congressional Republicans who want to push tax cuts that benefit the wealthy as an economic answer to the terrorism attacks. Murkowski has proved that hitchhikers aren't confining themselves to just tax cuts, but that they will look to catch a ride with other vehicles, including anti-terrorism legislation. Congress so far has shown its seriousness in addressing the terrorism threat by dismissing unworkable measures. It should continue down that road and refuse to give a lift to Murkowski's proposal to send nuclear waste to Nevada.