Letter: Study biological danger at Yucca

Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

Radioactivity getting into the ground water at Yucca Mountain might be the least of dangers.

Bacteria and viruses already in the mountain, and new ones introduced by storage of nuclear wastes there, could develop mutant strains that will be indestructible for a long time.

Most of the bacteria and viruses would be killed by the heat and radiation, but radiation is known to develop modifications in genetic structure that allow strains to proliferate that can withstand high heat and all sorts of radiation bombardment without being damaged.

Bacteria and viruses have been known to survive thermal environments of several thousands of degrees, so the temperature of a few hundred degrees inside Yucca will seem relatively cool to them.

I have seen no studies conducted of the potential biological hazards at Yucca, yet it seems to me the dangers of mutant bacteria and viruses entering the ground water are far, far worse than any radiation. These studies must be conducted, and the people of Nevada and surrounding states, including the country of Mexico, must be informed of the test results.

RON BOURGOIN Rocky Mount, N.C.

Editor's note: The writer was a consultant to the town of Rolesville in Wake County, N.C., in 1984 when a site in that area was being considered by the Energy Department as a potential high-level radioactive waste repository.