Over the past few weeks, there has been a spate of letters to the editor in Nevada newspapers urging the state to accept the inevitable and try to cut a deal with the federal government over the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. Not only are these letters and proposals wrong-headed, they are, for the most part, being generated and promoted by paid public relations people for the commercial nuclear power industry.
It is no coincidence that the industry is trying to turn up the heat at this time in its efforts to convince people that a Yucca Mountain dump is inevitable, and we should all meekly fall in line. Events on the horizon for the coming year will be pivotal for the state of Nevada's battle against this dangerous and ill-conceived project. How the state and its leaders respond could well decide the outcome of this 20 year fight. One way to assure Nevada will lose is to get state officials to blink and indicate that they might be willing to deal - that we have a price and can be bought. Hence, the new industry push for negotiations or even the possibility of negotiations.
Nevada has been successful so far in keeping high-level nuclear waste out of the state for one very important reason. Nevada's leaders have adamantly and even belligerently refused to compromise the health and safety of current and future generations of Nevadans for any price. That scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners approach has infuriated the nuclear industry and befuddled their political supporters in Congress, who can't understand why Nevada can't be forced or bribed into accepting the Yucca Mountain dump.
With key decision points approaching for the federal government and with a new Nevada legislative session on the horizon, the siren-call of big bucks and benefits is being heard again. The U.S. Department of Energy, the nuke industry, and pro-Yucca Mountain members of Congress all know that Nevada has a good chance of defeating this project, either in the courts or in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing proceedings.
They know that Yucca Mountain is seriously flawed and is not likely to pass muster in any even marginally-objective scientific suitability evaluation.
They know that the State of Nevada has a number of potentially winning issues that have yet to find their way to the courts - from fundamental constitutional issues involving Nevada's rights in relation to the federal government, to the legality of the process for selecting Yucca Mountain, to the adequacy of DOE's environmental and radiological health an safety assessments.
The bottom line is that chances are very good that Nevada can win this battle outright in the next couple of years. So, our "friends" in the nuclear industry are understandably getting very concerned. Hence, all of the letters and propaganda about what a good deal Yucca Mountain is for Nevada.
Next time you read a letter or hear someone talk about the "benefits" we're missing out on, just remember the source - and the real motivation behind the words. And, if they can't sell you on Yucca Mountain, there's this bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in.
KAITLIN BACKLUND
Executive Director Citizen Alert