[ RadSafe ] [ RadSafe Yucca Mtn.

Tue Sep 21 14:32:12 CDT 2010

Another problem is the myth that our kids learn in school every day that the U.S. is a democracy.  It is not--it's a republic.  

And of course, another problem is the fact that DOE, NRC, OSHA, EPA, BLM, DOJ, Indian Affairs, and Starfleet Federation all get to have a say in and write conflicting regulations and opinions pertaining to something as benign as Yucca Mountain.

Glenn Marshall, CHP, RRPT

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Bernard L. Cohen
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 4:02 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Cc: Teachout, Anna M. CIV AFRRI/HPD
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] [ RadSafe Yucca Mtn.

  The Nuclear Waste Policy Act is the problem, as explained in the 
attachment.

On 9/20/2010 4:02 PM, Teachout, Anna M. CIV AFRRI/HPD wrote:
> The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA, P.L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2201
> )recognizes that the federal government has the primary responsibility
> for permanent radwaste disposal, as well as the important participatory
> roles of the states and the public.  Various agencies within the federal
> government predicted (decades ago) that the site selection process and
> the construction would likely be controversial because there are so many
> entities involved (Sec DoE, Congress, the President, the states, Native
> American Tribes, and the general public).  Political posturing and
> anti-nuclear activism haven't made the undertaking any less complicated
> or less expensive.  Democracies can be oftentimes be rather messy, but
> that doesn't mean we should yearn for dictatorships, does it?
>

-- 
Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept., University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245  Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc at pitt.edu  web site: http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc