Las Vegas Sun

February 11, 2012

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Sun Editorial:

Another blow to Yucca

President’s budget slashes funding and states new strategy will be devised

Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.

President Barack Obama’s strong statements opposing Yucca Mountain during his campaign were not forgotten or even modified after he entered the White House.

The budget he has requested for 2010 reflects his sincerity on this issue that deeply affects Nevada.

Language in the proposed budget says his administration will “devise a new strategy toward nuclear waste disposal” and meanwhile “the Yucca Mountain program will be scaled back to those costs necessary to answer inquiries from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”

This means there is a better chance than ever that Yucca Mountain will never open. A new strategy could well mean a decision to continue safely storing high-level nuclear waste where it is produced, instead of burying it here, where our air and water could easily become contaminated.

This news is a major victory for Nevada, where opposition to the dump has been overwhelming since 1987. That was the year Congress declared that Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, would be the only site in the United States to be studied and developed as a high-level nuclear waste burial ground.

To date, the federal government has spent more than $13 billion on the site and has not come close to proving that it would be safe.

In 1987 Nevada did not have nearly the political clout it does today, which accounted for Congress’ decision. Sen. Harry Reid, at the time, had been a U.S. senator for just one year.

Today, of course, the Nevada Democrat is the Senate majority leader. Although Reid has long been effective in leading the state’s fight against Yucca Mountain — it was originally scheduled to open in 1998 — he is more effective than ever today, given his Senate position and close working relationship with Obama.

Responding to Obama’s position on Yucca Mountain, Reid said Thursday, “I could not be happier for the people of Nevada. This represents a significant and lasting victory in our battle to protect Nevada from becoming the country’s toxic wasteland.”

As promising as this news is, however, the state government should not reduce its funding for the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency, which has led a successful legal battle against Yucca Mountain.

Until this threat to Nevada is pronounced, once and for all, dead, we should continue to be vigilant and keep all of our defenses on the ready.

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