Will we ever begin work on Yucca mountain again? Will the US ever make a more permanent storage for nuclear waste than storing it at dozens of individual sites?
Will it take a Republican in the WH and in the senate for Nevada?
What will make this work?
Some day, a presidential candidate will grow a pair and say ‘‘American needs Yucca Mountain more than I need Nevada’s 3 electoral votes’’. Removing Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader will also have to happen.
Nitpick: Nevada has five electoral votes.
Well, John Ensign opposed Yucca mountain, as does the enitrety of Nevada’s House of Reps delegation (two Republicans and one Dem). I suspect that will continue to be true of any politician from Nevada, regardless of political affiliation, any use of the place will have to pass over the opposition of Nevada’s federal reps.
But I also think it will get used, they’ve sunk to much money into it to abandon it, especially given that they need to put the waste somewhere. The federal gov’t will waste time convening a bunch of panels over the next few years, and eventually someone that is in a secure enough electoral position to not worry about Nevada’s electoral votes will pretend that the panels convinced them, and go ahead and use it over the protests of Nevada’s Congresscritters.
ETA: Nevada is also a relatively early primary state, which I suspect is more of a reason for its ability to prevent Yucca mountain from opening then its fairly paltry number of electoral votes. IIRC, Obama came out strongly against Yucca Mountain when he was still neck and neck with Hillary for the Dem nomination.
I live in Las Vegas, and I can tell you few here want Yucca Mountain to be the nation’s nuclear dumping ground.
First of all, it is putting all of it in one location - making it a target for any number of terrorist activity, as well as the problem of earthquakes and other natural disasters.
More importantly, this would put nuclear waste on trucks driving from all points in the US to Nevada. Just what we need - thousands of trucks, filled with nuclear waste, driving through large cosmopolitan areas on the way here. Gee, what could possibly go wrong with that?!
You know the old expression, “Not in my backyard!”?
Well, if there was ever a time to use that expression, it is now.
As long as I live in Nevada, I will fight this idiotic concept to make sure it never happens.
Feel free to lobby for your own nuclear dump in your state/area.
Sorry if turn this into a GD, but just a couple comments:
Well, maybe if the people of Las Vegas actually looked at the facts before forming emotional opinions, then there would be more agreement on the issues.
Actually, putting it all in one location and deep underground is WAY easier to defend it against terrorist as opposed to not nearly as secure locations scattered all accross the US.
Many sites across the US were investigated for their suitability and Yucca mountain was chosen PRECISELY because of its extremely stable location and low risk of large earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Actually they are transported by Spent nuclear fuel shipping caskswhich are very well designed. Feel free to investigate their requirements. They have even tested them by hitting the containers with a 120-ton diesel locomotive traveling at at 80 mph and no leak would have occured.
Yep, never let facts get in the way of "Not in my backyard!"
This is why I mentioned Harry Reid.
Anything that could break those things probably wouldn’t leave much left of the surrounding area to be contaminated by them.
And easy to be smug and condescending when it ISN’T in your backyard.
We don’t want it here. Period.
Do you have a mouse in your pocket?
Fine. Make a suggestion for a place to build a long term storage facility for this waste. I really don’t give a shit any longer where it gets built. Keeping high level rad waste inside major metropolises in storage pools that are beginning to exceed their design lifetimes does not strike me as a good long-term plan.
You want to built it here in NY, perhaps using one of the salt mines here to store the waste? Fine. Advocate that, then. Have the guts to come right out and suggest someplace. Do something constructive for a change.
This bullshit of shoving your hands over your ears, closing your eyes, and shouting, “Not here!!!” isn’t going to solve a goddamned thing.