op-ed by John Kerry on Yucca Mountain

<OPINION: NOT ON MY WATCH
By JOHN KERRY

One of the biggest environmental and security challenges facing Nevadans is the threat that Yucca Mountain will be turned into the nation's nuclear waste dump. I voted against the plan to dispose of waste at Yucca Mountain -- and as president I will fight against it.

Four years ago in a letter to Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, then-candidate George W. Bush pledged he would approve a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain only if it was scientifically proven to be safe and secure. But before his first year in office was over, President Bush changed his position and approved the plan -- placing the profits of the nuclear power industry above the safety of Nevada families.

Today George Bush is still trying to move forward with this misguided plan, despite the overwhelming opposition from Nevadans and the scientific evidence that it is unsafe.

Two major scientific bodies have sounded alarms about Yucca Mountain. First, an independent commission advising Congress on Yucca Mountain determined that the metal to be used for the waste containers would corrode, leaking nuclear radiation into the surrounding environment. The Bush administration knew this when it approved the Yucca Mountain site, but unfortunately ignored it.

Second, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) -- the final judge of whether a safe waste repository can be built at Yucca Mountain -- recently warned the Department of Energy that its proposed license to build Yucca Mountain was in inadequate shape. Apparently, despite billions of dollars and decades of research, DOE still lacks the technical and scientific information required to even submit the license application for review. The department's inability to produce information supporting the safety of the project speaks volumes.

Despite this scientific evidence, the Bush administration is rushing to meet an arbitrary, self-imposed deadline of December 2004. The risks are tragically clear. In January, we learned that workers who dug a test tunnel at Yucca were exposed to hazardous dust and mineral hazards. Evidence shows that the Bush administration was aware of these risks and the procedures required to protect them. But pressure to keep the project on schedule pushed safety into the back seat. Tragically, many of these workers are now sick.

It's a shame that the Bush administration has put the financial interests of the nuclear industry above the health and safety of DOE workers and Nevadans. I believe there is a better way to secure Nevada's health, environmental and financial well-being. That includes putting a stop to the dump once and for all.>

http://blog.johnkerry.com/blog/archives/001727.html

Or just on his blog?

Nice job, though. We need to get this info out there. Bush put polluters first in Nevada - he could be coming to your backyard next.

yes, this was in some nevada paper. but i just got it off his blog.

this will color Nevada Blue. Nevada is not a wasteland! Aside from the simple fact that Yucca is not a viable option due to the faults. I am sure there will be some happy voters here. Thanks for the post.

and where are all the gripes about Kerry being invisible, or moving right, or being Bush-lite, etc...? I guess some threads don't interest them.

margins. Kerry's Yucca Mtn. stance, will be all it takes to turn Nevada "blue" (which by the way, is the official state color, and, the color of its flag).

As a Nevadan who was nuked by weapons testing as a youngster, and has suffered a lifetime of cancer and related illnesses because of the exposure, I can't tell you how happy I am about Kerry's stance.

And even more, I love Nevada. It is a state of incredible beauty (get off the freeways, and into the back country, and you'll discover the "secret beauty" we Nevadans know), and does not deserve to be treated as America's nuclear garbage dump. In addition, the idiots want to put the dump 75 miles from America's fastest growing city, Las Vegas!

I would also like to mention, that John Edwards fully supported, and voted for, the Nevada dump, which automatically took him off *my* list. Hopefully, Kerry will choose someone as VP who more agrees with his positions, and someone with a bit more "weight" to his ass, than Edwards.

In closing, having read this, and despite the fact I remain very unhappy with Kerry's positions on Iraq, I am going to send him another donation this morning, .....accompanied by a missive asking him to reconsider his Iraq position.