Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Sun editorial:

Yucca Mountain politics

Despite what critics say, science never drove the plan to make Nevada a nuclear dump

There has been a spate of editorials and articles recently whining about President Barack Obama’s decision to kill plans for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

USA Today, for example, published an editorial Tuesday decrying the decision as “political” — noting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is from Nevada. The newspaper said the decision countered the White House’s belief that “politics should not drive science.”

Similar arguments have been made by others, including The Washington Post, the Washington Times and those in the nuclear power industry. Those who cry politics are either disingenuous or ignorant of the facts: Politics is the reason Yucca Mountain was chosen in the first place.

When Congress decided to create a dump, it decided it wanted a place with geological features that would shield radiation from escaping and ordered a scientific search for the best sites. Yucca Mountain, a porous, volcanic ridge, would not have been at the top of the list. There were many other sites across the country considered, including places in Texas, Washington state, Utah, Louisiana and Mississippi.

In 1985 President Ronald Reagan narrowed the list to Nevada, Washington state and Texas.

Nevada didn’t stand a chance. The vice president and the speaker of the House at the time were from Texas. The then-House majority leader was from Washington state.

A powerful senator from Louisiana provided the political answer, authoring the so-called “Screw Nevada” bill in 1987. The bill named Yucca Mountain as the only site to be considered. Nevada’s small congressional delegation, whose senior senator at the time, Chic Hecht, hadn’t been in office for a full term, was powerless to stop it.

The bill set the government off on an impossible quest: Make science support a political decision. The result has been a waste of more than two decades and nearly $8 billion. President Obama was true to his word. With his decision, science finally ruled the day.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy