Fw: (CMEP-list) BUSH SHOULD REJECT ENERGY CHIEF'S RECOMMENDATIONON YUCCA MOUNTAIN NUCLEAR DUMP

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----- Original Message -----

From: " Noel Petrie " <npetrie@...>

Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 1:43 PM

Subject: (CMEP-list) BUSH SHOULD REJECT ENERGY CHIEF'S RECOMMENDATIONON

YUCCA MOUNTAIN NUCLEAR DUMP

Apologies for cross postings.

Thursday afternoon, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham officially announced

that he intends to recommend that a nuclear waste dump be developed at Yucca

Mountain (located 80 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada). Public Citizen's

response is below.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires the Energy Secretary to give Nevada 30

days notice of a pending site recommendation. We can now anticipate in 30

days Secretary Abraham will officially recommend Yucca Mountain to the

president. Then at any time the president can refer the recommendation to

Congress. Nevada intends to veto the repository project, but Congress could

override Nevada's veto and allow the project to continue with a majority

vote in both the Senate and the House. This vote must be held within 90

days of continuous session after the President refers the site

recommendation to Congress. Remind your members of Congress to oppose the

Yucca Mountain Project!

Press Release:

BUSH SHOULD REJECT ENERGY CHIEF'S RECOMMENDATION ON YUCCA MOUNTAIN NUCLEAR

DUMP

Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Director,

Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has shown a reckless disregard for public

health and the environment in announcing his intention to recommend that a

nuclear waste dump be created at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. After years of

study and billions of dollars, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has not

been able to demonstrate that the proposed repository could safely contain

nuclear waste for the quarter million years that it will remain dangerously

radioactive. As recently as Dec. 21, the General Accounting Office concluded

that a site recommendation at this time would be premature. The truth is

that Yucca Mountain is not a suitable site for a nuclear waste dump and the

repository project itself is fatally flawed.

Secretary's Abraham's irresponsible assertions that the proposed repository

would address national security concerns are inaccurate and do not obviate

the project's dangerous deficiencies. Far from consolidating this country's

nuclear waste problem, the proposed repository would create an additional

contaminated site. Because of statutory capacity limits, a Yucca Mountain

repository could not contain all the high-level nuclear waste projected to

be generated by U.S. nuclear reactor. Further, high-level nuclear waste will

continue to be stored onsite at each operating reactor, even if a repository

is established.

The prospect of transporting nuclear waste across the country to Nevada

raises additional security and safety concerns. Routing projections

indicate that nuclear shipments could pass through as many as 45 states en

route to Yucca Mountain, endangering millions of Americans who live near

interstate highways and railroads.

Secretary Abraham's decision to withhold the project's environmental impact

statement and other key documents on which the recommendation was based

undermines democracy. The concerns of thousands of concerned citizens who

participated in comment periods and DOE hearings have yet to be addressed.

We urge President Bush to reject Secretary Abraham's pending site

recommendation and immediately discontinue the Yucca Mountain project.

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