nader on nukes

["mike chamness" <m_chamness@hotmail.com>]

September 15, 2000
>>
>>Nader: Keep nuke waste at plants
>>
>>Presidential hopeful, consumer advocate against Yucca plan
>>By Mary Manning
>><manning@lasvegassun.com>
>>LAS VEGAS SUN
>>
>>Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader has been opposed to nuclear
>>power and its trail of highly radioactive waste since before Vice 
>>President
>>Al Gore was first elected to the House in 1976.
>>
>>So it was no surprise today when Nader, speaking at a rally at the UNLV
Moyer
>>Student Union, called for leaving the nuclear garbage where it is stored 
>>at
>>73 power plants instead of shipping 77,000 tons of it to Yucca Mountain, 
>>90
>>miles northwest of where he was speaking.
>>
>>Yucca Mountain is a sensitive political issue in Nevada, Nader's state
>>campaign coordinator Linda Henry said before his 11 a.m. speech.
>>
>>"It's going to be a major issue in Nevada for the November election," 
>>Henry
>>said. "It's what everybody asks me: 'What's his stand on Yucca Mountain?' 
>>"
>>
>>As a consumer advocate well known for his stance on auto safety, Nader
became
>>active in opposing all things nuclear in the early 1970s.
>>
>>As founder of the consumer advocate group Citizen Alert in 1971, Nader 
>>kept
>>asking the questions: Where does the nuclear waste go? How do you 
>>transport
>>the waste? How do you develop security around a nuclear power plant? Why
does
>>it cost so much?
>>
>>There were no answers from the federal government then and there are no
>>answers now, he said.
>>
>>Since the federal government is not allowing scientists independent from
the
>>Department of Energy and the nuclear industry to sign off on a Yucca
>>repository, Nader said he's against it.
>>
>>How to deal with the waste is a question that won't be answered for the
next
>>10 years or so, until technology catches up, Nader said. The easiest
solution
>>is to quit producing radioactive wastes and move from nuclear power to
solar
>>energy.
>>
>>His opposition to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain is based on 
>>the
>>lack of sufficient scientific studies by the DOE, earthquake hazards
(Nevada
>>ranks third behind California and Alaska for quakes) and unacceptable
>>radiation exposures, Nader said.
>>
>>Temporary storage isn't much of an option, either, he said.
>>
>>Nader doesn't like dry cask storage, already approved by the Nuclear
>>Regulatory Commission, to keep radioactive spent fuel out of the
environment
>>at reactor sites.
>>
>>Instead, he believes the spent nuclear fuel rods should be left in
storage at
>>the individual reactor sites.
>>
>>Nader blames the press, Congress and the Atomic Energy Commission,
>>predecessor to the DOE, for promoting nuclear power.
>>
>>It wasn't until the Three Mile Island near-meltdown in Pennsylvania that
the
>>press and the public woke up, Nader said.
>>
>>Before Nader spoke, Western Shoshone elder and spiritual leader Corbin
Harney
>>expressed his concerns about federal plans for burying nuclear waste at
>>Yucca, a mountain claimed by the tribe as a sacred site.
>>
>>"We have one water, one air and one Mother Earth," Harney said. "We must
take
>>care of it all."
>>

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