Editorial: Better late than never

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

Sen. Robert Bennett has been a reliable supporter of the nuclear power industry, including backing the controversial construction of a high-level nuclear waste dump in Nevada. While Bennett says that he still believes in the value of nuclear power, the Republican senator from Utah has made a major break with the industry. In a speech on the Senate floor this week, Bennett said that he now opposes storing nuclear waste in Nevada. "However much the idea of a single repository may have made sense some decades ago, it's now clear that it does not make sense and we need to move in some future direction," he said. Bennett said he will team up with Nevada's congressional delegation, which is supporting efforts in Congress that would allow nuclear waste to be stored on site where it is generated. That would remove the option of shipping the waste thousands of mile s cross-country to Nevada's Yucca Mountain, which has been hobbled by regulatory and legal issues that could prevent it fro! m ever opening.

Bennett's epiphany undoubtedly occurred on Sept. 9 when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction of a temporary above-ground nuclear waste repository on Indian tribal land about 45 miles away from Salt Lake City. The specter of 44,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste, in what the nuclear power industry has said would be a staging area to eventually ship man's deadliest waste to Nevada, finally made Bennett see the light.

Ironically, in 2002 the Bush White House secured votes in favor of Yucca Mountain from Bennett and Utah's other senator, Orrin Hatch, with the guarantee that the administration would work to stop a temporary dump from happening there. Apparently, Bush's word to Utah's senators was just as good as the promise he made to Nevadans in 2000, when he pledged that "sound science" would guide him on Yucca Mountain. Shortly after being sworn in as president, Bush pushed approval of the Yucca Mountain project through Congress -- despite nearly 300 unanswered scientific questions about Yucca Mountain's suitability. It's also worth noting today that, in light of real doubts about Yucca Mountain ever opening, residents of Utah fear that their state could be a fallback option for the federal government, transforming the temporary dump into a permanent one.

Of course, Bennett's opposition to Yucca Mountain would have been more welcome three years ago, when Nevada had the best opportunity to forever block Yucca Mountain. But rather than dwelling on the past, we hope that Bennett's change of heart results in others finding the courage to oppose Yucca Mountain, too. In particular, it would be encouraging to see the seeds of opposition take root among all Western members of Congress, especially since the West tends to be Washington's choice as a dumping ground for the nation's hazardous wastes.