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Yucca - Write Congress! (and writing tips)
By law, the US Congress has to act on Yucca in less than 90 days. The House
has begun debate and may vote on a resolution that effectively overrides
Nevada Governor Guinn's veto by early May.
The vote in the Senate is expected to be closer. To see where your senators
stand on the issue as of March, see
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Know_Nukes/message/2914
Take a moment and contact your representatives to express your support for
the project. Your voice (or silence) could be the determining factor.
To contact Congress by email/web form,
Look up your Congresspeople's email addresses at
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
or
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
and
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html
If you need your ZIP+4 code, see:
http://new.usps.com/cgi-bin/uspsbv/scripts/frames.jsp?A=B&D=14041&U=X&U1=B&U2=H
It's best to write a personalized letter, but feel free to use my draft
below. At the very bottom of this post, there are additional tips on
writing Congress.
If anyone is willing to share their own letter with me, I'd be appreciative.
Best regards,
Jim
Dear Senator (Congressman/Congresswoman) ____________,
I am writing to urge you to support the Yucca Mountain Project and override
Governor Guinn's veto.
Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982, which directed DOE to
conduct studies to identify potential repository sites, determine their
suitability, and select the most suitable site. The Act stipulated that the
chosen site accept spent nuclear fuel by January 1, 1998. It is time for
the US government to live up to its obligation to take ownership of this
waste and dispose of it properly.
Although the industries that have created the waste have done a respectable
job at containing it at the 100+ sites it is currently
stored at, high level waste was never meant to be indefinitely stored all
over the US in spent fuel pools near capacity or in dry storage.
After many years and about $6 billion worth of expenditures on scientific
study, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has appropriately
recommended that the nation's high-level nuclear waste repository be
developed at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
Experts throughout the world agree that the most feasible and safe method
for disposing of highly radioactive materials is to store them deep
underground, and Yucca Mountain's geology, hydrology, biology, and climate
have been extensively studied. The pre-closure and post-closure assessments
of the Yucca Mountain repository indicate that the natural and engineered
barriers provide public health protection with a considerable margin of
safety in meeting the regulatory standard, as demonstrated in the
Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation.
The transportation of waste has been raised as a significant safety concern.
Each year, 100 million shipments of hazardous supplies navigate America's
roadways, railways, airspace and shipping routes. Approximately 2 to 5
million involve radioactive material, mainly medical and industrial
radioisotopes. Over the past 40 years, about 3,000 shipments of spent
nuclear fuel have navigated more than 1.7 million miles of U.S. roads and
railways, with no releases of radioactive materials to the environment.
This stellar safety record is ensured by the use of well-designed packages
and casks, along with implementation of stringent regulations and tested
safety measures.
Public routes used for the transport of nuclear materials must meet strict
safety requirements before nuclear fuel is permitted access. Department of
Transportation regulations require carriers of materials with high levels of
radioactivity, such as spent fuel, to use the safest routes available. Risk
assessments of radioactive materials transportation evaluate factors such as
accident rate, transit time, population density, other vehicles sharing the
route and time of day.
Casks used for shipping spent nuclear fuel are designed to minimize
potential radiation exposure for the public. They are rigorously designed
according to requirements established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and the Department of Transportation in volumes 10 and 49 of the Code of
Federal Regulations. The casks are about 15 times thicker than a gasoline
tank truck shell, and they include three inches of stainless steel and thick
radiation shields. Typically, for every ton of fuel, there are more than
three tons of protective packaging and shielding. These casks are designed
and tested to withstand crashes, fire, water immersion and puncture. To be
certified, a cask design must withstand a sequence of four tests that
measure its performance in specified crash and fire accident conditions.
Please protect public health and safety, and support the sound technology
that provides our nation with reliable, relatively safe, clean, sustainable,
and cost-competitive nuclear energy by supporting the Yucca Mountain
Project.
Sincerely,
[My full name, title, and mailing address]
======================================
Tips on Writing to Members of Congress
* The letter should be brief and to the point
* The letter should include a specific request for action.
* If you email, include your full postal address and contact information so
that the legislator's office can optionally send a response by postal mail.
* Identify yourself as a constituent (your address will usually do that).
* State the purpose of your correspondence in the first paragraph. If your
letter pertains to a specific piece of legislation, identify it accordingly:
House Bill: H.R._______
Senate Bill: S._______
* Write in a courteous manner, get to the point and include key information,
using examples to support your position. Don't be vague.
* Describe the impact of passage or defeat of the legislation you are
writing about.
* Avoid using form letters. Personalize your letter to fit your
personality, and that reflects your voice.
* Each letter should contain only one issue.
* If you have a professional background that provides credence to your
letter, include it. For example, "As a Radiological Engineer with 26 years
of experience, I believe..."
* Address your letter in the following manner:
To a Senator:
The Honorable (full formal name)
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator (last name)
To a member of the House of Representatives:
The Honorable (full formal name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman or Congresswoman (last name)
When writing to the Chair of a Committee, or to the Speaker of the House,
address them as: Dear Mr. Chairman or Madam Chairwoman, or, Dear Mr.
Speaker.
--
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