Letter: Nuclear dump proponents use politics, deceit

Friday, May 6, 2005 | 10:06 a.m.

Nevadans and Americans who have fought against a proposed, politically motivated nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, have reason to be proud. It has taken 18 years to finally prove that science has taken a back seat to raw politics and deceit on the part of the Energy Department.

The proof was in the federal court ruling last summer that struck down the Energy Department's standard for protection against radiation -- which had been 10,000 years, when the National Academy of Sciences had recommended a much longer period.

The Nevada Legislature has called upon President Bush and Congress to abandon plans for turning Yucca Mountain into a permanent repository for storing nuclear waste. They cite reasons of safety, security and unscientific studies.

Our U.S. senators, Democrat Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign, have collaborated on legislation to have the Energy Department take possession of the nuclear waste right where it is stored now, on the site of the nuclear power plants. They support using the nuclear waste fund, built up through fees on consumers' power bills, to finance this on-site storage. Their legislation makes perfect sense economically and scientifically. Upon passage of this legislation, the nuclear power industry would no longer have a reason for pressuring the government to open Yucca Mountain.

The fight against Yucca Mountain is not about NIMBY (not in my back yard). It is, rather, a fight against an oppressive federal government that is using power politics against a politically weak state.

FRANK PERNA