Waste finds home in Nevada

When one thinks of Las Vegas visions of casinos, slot machines, and lavish hotels come to mind. With a recent congressional decision to make the Yucca Mountains a repository site, nuclear waste will soon be added to that list.
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham recommended to President Bush the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada be developed as the first, long-term geologic repository for 77,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear wastes produced by nuclear power plants operating in 34 states.
Based on twenty years and four billion dollars in scientific research and study of the area, President Bush deemed the mountain site as a qualified area for a construction permit application.
Governor Kenny Guinn of Carson City, Nevada is upset with this decision with so much unknown information concerning the waste, and many other unanswered questions about the storage facility. Many local residents of the city share the governor’s sentiments.
“I don’t feel comfortable with them moving it here,” replied Shirley Brown, a mental health technician and local Nevada resident. “Not only is it a health hazard to the citizens, but it brings the property value down because people won’t want to move here,” she stated. “Not to mention the dangers involved in transporting nuclear waste from state to state. My sentiments are pretty much the same as all the residents living here.”
The facility is expected to be constructed about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas in 2010. Many people are wondering how the waste will be transported to Nevada. Since 1989, the Agency for Nuclear Projects has been reviewing highway and rail routes that might be used to ship nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. More than 43 states may be affected by the waste transportation including rail routes in Texas and Louisiana, and highway routes in Florida. Many citizens are concerned with the health hazards involved.
According to Amy Wells, a communication specialist for River Bend Station, the process of statewide waste movement is a safe process. “Nuclear waste movement has been taking place for years,” she replied. “There have been no situations that might be hazardous to the health of local residents.”
There are one hundred and three nuclear plants in the country. In the state of Louisiana there are only two plants; River Bend Station and Waterford-3. “Each station stores their own waste on site,” said Wells. “I think it will be a good thing to move all the waste to one location instead of having separate places to store it.”