Nuke Depository is Cost Effective, and Safeguards Environment, National Security

(Washington, D.C.) – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) applauded President Bush's Friday decision to dispose of some 70,000 tons of nuclear waste under Yucca Mountain, Nev.  The decision comes after two decades of scientific analysis and political wrangling over where and how to deposit and store nuclear waste.

"After spending more than $6 billion to determine the safest and most secure site, the government has now correctly concluded that nuclear waste can be buried at Yucca Mountain," CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "In addition, keeping the waste at its current location at nuclear plants around the nation is costly and dangerous.”

The cost of maintaining nuclear waste at sites around the country could be more than $60 billion.  In addition, several federal court decisions over the last several years have found the Department of Energy has violated the law by failing to construct a permanent nuclear waste site.  The President’s support of Yucca Mountain should end that litigation track, but open up another as activists have said they intend to delay Yucca's activation as long as possible.  Las Vegas officials, lead by City Attorney Brad Jerbic, have filed several lawsuits in federal courts to block progress.  "Nevada's officials should recognize that this project is safe and makes sense, and drop all legal road blocks.  Taxpayer money has been allotted for this project; it's time to move forward,” Schatz said.

"Additionally, Sept. 11 should have taught this country a lesson about its potential weak spots," Schatz added.  "Yucca is a crucial security precaution against terrorism.  Currently, a terrorist has over 100 chances in 39 states to breach security where nuclear waste is stored, and there are scores of sites — power plants, old reactors, etc. — where nuclear material now resides.  The shallow nuclear storage pools built in the 1970s were only designed as a temporary measure, and are often located near major U.S. cities.  Putting most or all nuclear waste in one facility that can be carefully documented and guarded, like Ft. Knox, ensures high security, not to mention enormous economies of scale financially."  

"Everyone from the U.S. Geological Survey to the Department of Energy has agreed the Yucca Mountain site is scientifically sound.  Further delay means the waste of yet more money — it’s time to act," Schatz concluded.

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.