Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today (October 10, 2008) applauded the decision of Nevada Attorney General Catherine Coretz Masto to file suit challenging highly flawed radiation standards for the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain dump plan.  The legal challenge questions the safety of a two-part standard put forward recently by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to establish radiation limits for the proposed repository covering a period of one million years.  The new two-tiered standard has drawn intense criticism for failing to adequately protect human health and safety. 

“Whether it’s the $100 billion price tag or the fact that toxic nuclear waste will be dumped on the door step of Las Vegas for the next million years, the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan is a threat to Nevada’s future and to public safety nationwide.  The Attorney General is 100% right to challenge these highly flawed standards and to question claims that toxic radioactive garbage dumped at Yucca Mountain will not increase cancer deaths or cause other health risks to Nevada families,” said Berkley. 

The Congresswoman has also raised questions about the Bush-McCain plan to build a $3 billion gold-plated “railroad to nowhere” that would haul nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain via Caliente.      

“At a time when our nation is being rocked by a global economic crisis, the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan calls for building a gold-plated $3 billion railroad to nowhere that will benefit the nuclear industry at the expense of the health and safety of Nevada families,” Berkley said.  “Like Yucca Mountain, this railroad is nothing but pure radioactive pork and it comes at a time when we should be investing those billions in clean, renewable energy like solar and geothermal.”   

Legislation cosponsored by Berkley would require that nuclear waste be kept in dry cask storage at nuclear power plants – a move that would eliminate transportation dangers.

“Waste can be safely secured at existing nuclear plants for the next 100 years, so why would we risk the lives of 50 million Americans by shipping this toxic garbage across the U.S. to Nevada.  Our plan avoids accidents and denies terrorists the opportunity to target nuclear waste shipments in hopes of securing the materials to build a dirty bomb,” Berkley said.