Yucca Mountain Fight Enters New Phase as
NRC
OK’S
Shoddy Dump Application
Price tag still growing -
$100 billion and counting
Congresswoman
Shelley Berkley today (September 8, 2008) vowed that Nevada will continue
fighting the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan even as the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission agreed to docket a license application for construction of a proposed
nuclear waste dump 90 minutes outside Las Vegas.
"The NRC’s decision puts
nuclear politics over the health and safety of Nevada families and you can bet
that we will continue fighting the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan. We know
this application is incomplete given the clear lack of a radiation standard to
safeguard lives and our environment. That alone should have stopped the NRC
from rubberstamping a shoddy license application that raises more questions than
it answers. This political decision smacks of a railroad job designed to give
the Bush-McCain plan for turning Nevada into a nuclear waste dump a shot in the
arm two months before the election,” said Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.
“The real news here is that
after more than 20 years, Yucca Mountain is still decades behind schedule and
the price tag has grown to $100 billion,” said Berkley. “The Bush White House
knows the sun is about to set on its eight year long drive to dump nuclear waste
at Yucca Mountain As a result, they are desperate to show progress is being
made, even as the timetable for the dump has slipped to 2020 or 2025,” said
Berkley. “Add to that the risk from volcanoes and earthquakes at Yucca Mountain
and the threat to 50 million Americans from decades of toxic waste shipments and
you can see why the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan is a disaster for Nevada and
our nation,” said Berkley.
Legislation cosponsored by
the Congresswoman would allow nuclear waste to be safely stored at power plant
sites hardened for protection, eliminating the need for waste to be moved to
Yucca Mountain.
“Nuclear waste can be safely
stored on-site for the next 100 years and that is the same storage method that
the industry is relying on for any new nuclear power plants. On-site storage is
good enough for the nuclear industry and its backers when it comes to building
more plants, so clearly there is no danger and no need for the waste to be
shipped to Nevada. This solution costs a small fraction of the $100 billion
price tag for dumping this toxic garbage in Nevada and it eliminates the danger
of an accident or terrorist incident involving shipments of radioactive waste,”
said Berkley.
The House Republican Energy Bill: Dump, Baby,
Dump!
GOP Package Seeks Billions
More for Yucca Mountain,
Limits Ability of Nevada
to Fight Nuke Waste Dump
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley today (September 9, 2008) warned Nevada families
that passage of the House Republican “All of the Above” energy plan would be a
boost to Yucca Mountain and would open the floodgates to more spending on the
proposed nuclear waste dump near Las Vegas.
“The
House Republican energy plan isn’t drill, baby, drill -- it’s dump, baby, dump
-- and the result will be deadly radioactive waste in Nevada,” said Berkley.
The
legislation would automatically increase funding for the Bush-McCain Yucca
Mountain plan. This change would limit the ability of Congress to control how
much is spent each year on the dump, a tool that has allowed Nevada to slash the
project’s budget in past years.
“A vote
for this plan is a vote to strip our power in Congress to cut funding for the
Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan and that will hurt Nevada’s fight to keep
nuclear waste out of our home state,” said Berkley.
While
House Republicans are focusing billions of dollars on their effort to turn
Nevada into a nuclear dumping ground, Berkley is calling for those dollars to be
used to increase investments in more clean, renewable energy.
“Spending $100 billion on Yucca Mountain is not going to save drivers one penny
at the pump or create more solar, wind or geothermal energy in Nevada,” said
Berkley. “The Silver State can and should be an international leader in the use
and production of clean energy from solar and geothermal sources, but under the
GOP’s so-called ‘All of the Above’ plan, our role will be to serve as America’s
nuclear garbage can.”
“Republicans have not only larded-up this bill with more radioactive pork for
the nuclear industry, but they are also expecting families in Nevada and across
the nation to sacrifice their health and safety and that is just plain wrong.
Americans are demanding energy independence, not decades of toxic nuclear waste
shipments barreling past their homes and businesses,” said Berkley.
Bush Vows to Block Pay Raise for
America’s Troops Over Yucca Mountain Funding
President Plays Politics
with National Defense as
Part of Effort to Dump
Radioactive Waste in Nevada
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley
today (September 10, 2008) called on President Bush to put America’s fighting
forces and the nation’s security ahead of his desire to see the state of Nevada
transformed into a nuclear garbage dump. The White House threatened this week
to veto a defense bill that would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and
provide a 3.9% pay increase to members of the military. Among the reasons for
the veto threat cited by the administration was a $50 million cut in funding for
the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan, a project with a price tag that has now
grown to $100 billion.
“President Bush is willing to
block a pay raise for our troops and to delay funding for operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan all in the name of dumping toxic nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain,”
said Berkley.
“Clearly he is more concerned
about nuclear industry profits than he is about our fighting men and women or
the military families across the nation who will suffer financially if the
President succeeds in stopping this defense bill. We should be rewarding the
courage and dedication of America’s troops, not holding up a pay raise for these
warriors in order to spend billions more on the reckless Bush-McCain Yucca
Mountain plan.”
Berkley is calling on Bush to
immediately drop his veto threat and has stated that she will vote to override
the White House should the President attempt to block passage of this critical
package. Among the bill’s provisions are the following:
- Pay
Raise for America’s troops: authorizes a 3.9 percent across-the-board pay
raise for military personnel.
- $70
billion for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.
- $26
billion for military health care.
- $3
billion to protect U.S. forces against IED’s.
