Yucca as dumpsite might make sense

Tom Keller, Henderson

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.

The Sun’s recent editorial, “We won’t do that,” rejected Rep. Mark Amodei’s proposal to revisit storing nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, saying Nevada would look greedy if it took money to accept the waste and that only a few jobs would be created to guard the site. But the power companies are paying $750 million a year into the Nuclear Waste Fund for disposal of their spent fuel rods. That could provide a major boost to the state.

There still doesn’t appear to be solid science behind rejecting the project. Spent fuel pellets are insoluble in water, so even if water someday leaked into the storage tunnels, there might not be a risk of groundwater contamination. The waste is also chemically inert, so if a train transporting the waste derails, the only hazard would be to the people cleaning up any spilled material.

The Yucca Mountain project is politically unpopular, but it at least deserves a fair evaluation. If it survives a thorough scientific analysis and the price is right, it just might make sense.

Tom Keller, Henderson