[ RadSafe ] LA Times: Nuclear Waste Outpaces Solutions

[Stabin, Michael]

>Each contains roughly 13 tons of high-level nuclear waste that has been
accumulating at the plant since the Eisenhower administration. With
nowhere to go, the waste will most likely remain in place for decades.
>The problem reflects decades of miscalculations and missteps by the
federal government, which promised at the dawn of the nuclear age to
accept ownership of the waste. The plan to build a waste repository at
Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert has faced so many political, legal
and technical problems that it's impossible to project when - or even if
- it will be built. As a result, the most lethal waste product of
industrial society is being handled outside any federal policy and
without any roadmap for how it will be managed in the future, according
to industry officials, nuclear waste experts, lawyers and academicians.
>But the loss of a key court case last year and political resistance in
Congress have put the dump at least 14 years behind schedule.
>"We don't want this 10-pin bowling alley out in the open," said Dave
Kraft, an antinuclear activist for more than 20 years. "Anybody with a
shoulder-fired missile could hit one of these things from outside the
plant." 


"Miscalculations and missteps" is not accurate. The federal government
did a reasonably good job of siting this facility and planning for its
use. In hindsight, flaws can always be found. The main issue here is the
irresponsible and immoral political gamesmanship practiced by
anti-nuclear activists (including former President Clinton) to throw any
and all roadblocks at the disposal scenario, just to hurt the industry,
regardless of the implications for public safety. Now we are stuck with
a plan that is clearly more likely to result in unwanted exposure of the
public and the environment than if the waste had been stored as planned
at Yucca. "Human health and safety? We don't care about that, we have a
political game to win here." That is what is so aggravating about their
posturing at the microphone, pretending to care about safety. We see
ultimately that it is only a political fight to win or lose, and the
best interests of society are nowhere on their list of items of
importance.


Mike

Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences 
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences 
Vanderbilt University 
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232-2675 
Phone (615) 343-0068
Fax   (615) 322-3764
Pager (615) 835-5153
e-mail     michael.g.stabin at vanderbilt.edu 
internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com