User profile: davelv

Regarding "The Obama administration has vowed to eliminate the dump plan, leaving only enough money in the Energy Department's proposed budget to close the site.", evidently this administration thinks Yucca Mountain is a policy that can be changed based on personal preference vs being a FEDERAL LAW that he as President is supposed to follow and enforce. If this administration doesn't like the law, change it. Otherwise, follow the laws to which your Constitutionally created office is subject.

What is amazing about the report is that the GAO appears to find different numbers for building everything than reality would suggest. For instance, the lastest cost estimate for Yucca Mountain by the DOE last year was around $97 billion in 2007 dollars, yet their report says it will cost a mean of $53 billion in 2009 dollars. Regardless of the illogical footnotes in the report, this just does not make sense. As a result, one could probably say that every number in the report is about 1/2 of the true value, including interim storage.

Additionally, the report doesn't state what the cost of just one terrorist attack on an interim storage site would be - which could be $100-$500 billion.

The choice of interim storage as being cheaper is obviously illusionary. One should ask why the GAO issued such a report. If DOE had used such math in its design and license application, the Sun would have been crying foul very loudly.

Ms. Berkley, your quote in this article that "It's long past time those who produced this nuclear garbage take responsibility for finding a real solution to this issue." appears to invoke Nevada's responsibility to dispose of it. About 50% of the garbage of which you speak is from 60+ years of defense nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel from Naval ships, both of which have defended the state of Nevada, provided stability to the world, and allowed tourists to visit Nevada and spend money gambling. Additonally, Las Vegas presently receives about 16% of its electricity from nuclear power. I am glad that you finally recognize that Nevada owns a good portion of the country's nuclear waste and must participate in its disposal.

As to Mr. Domenici's comment that Yucca Mountain is dead, this is a self-serving statement to promote the development of nuclear reprocessing in New Mexico, his home state. He obviously is not afraid of tens of billions of dollars in nuclear technology unlike Nevada's leaders.

Sure, interim storage is cheaper for 100 years than infinite disposal. This is a no brainer but means nothing unless the total cost is calculated. Kinda like saying universal health care only costs $800 billion for the first 10 years when the next 10 years cost $3 to $5 trillion.

Makes you wonder what type of mathematicians work at the GAO, and what ethics do they have to release such a distorted half truth report at the request of Reid and Ensign.

Also makes you wonder what other projects are misleadingly described by the GAO.

Let me reiterate and clarify: the only LEGAL way for Obama and Reid to end the license application is to either change the law or let the NRC find the application insufficient.

This no doubt will not stop Obama/Chu/Reid from withdrawing the license application during Congress' Christmas recess so as to ensure that few people are around to protest.

Nonetheless, the NWPA allows any citizen to file a lawsuit with a federal circuit court to stop the President or Secretary of Energy from performing against the NWPA.

Why would 49 other states let one Senator stop Yucca Mountain? It will be interesting to see who in the Senate, House or just the American public objects to defiance of the NWPA by the current administration.