The Yucca Mountain project is being forced on us because billions of dollars have already been spent studying the site over the last 20 years and the clock is ticking on temporary storage facilities. Additionally, the Bush administration is for ramping up the nuclear power industry in this country and therefore needs a permanent storage solution.
These are not good enough reasons to build a permanent nuclear waste storage facility in a seismically active area. Every Nevadan should look at the U.S. Geological Service's Web page (http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm) and see the real-time seismic activity in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain. The toxicity level of the waste slated for this site is in the "immediately fatal" category. Scientists, engineers and our own legislators are gravely concerned about the risk to our state, but our president is not. He doesn't consult nonpartisan experts on these matters; he gets his decision-making information from loyalist ideologues committed to his version of the conservative agenda.
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, for example, author of the recommendation the president used to approve the Yucca Mountain project, is neither a scientist nor an engineer. He is a conservative lawyer who has spent 10 years of his career as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party and co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
If we give the Bush administration another opportunity to force its pro-nuclear agenda, no doubt the consequences will be disastrous for Nevada.
MARG DILLON Reno
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