Letter: Don’t count on NRC to stop nuclear waste

Friday, May 31, 2002 | 9:35 a.m.

They had their "A" team ready for us. At least three attorneys, technical people, consultants and the chief of high-level nuclear waste. Their presentation was predictable; it showed them as competent government employees skilled in the art of being "technocrats."

However, they struggled mightily with an audience question on how dangerous nuclear garbage would be if spilled on someone's front yard. They never did come up with a straight answer. However, they did acknowledge having no licensing experience with anything like Yucca Mountain.

It also didn't seem to bother them that the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board found the scientific work at Yucca to be "weak to moderate." Nor did they voice concern about more than 200 scientific questions raised in an earlier study of Yucca, which have never been answered.

The NRC did point out they are an "independent" agency of the U. S. government with no obligations to anyone, and are concerned only with the health and safety of the public. Based on the performance I witnessed from NRC, the courts seem Nevada's best option to stop the insanity of nuclear garbage in our Yucca Mountain.

ANDY HERESZ

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