nuclear-news

“Nuclear waste coming soon to an interstate near you”

Nuclear waste coming soon to an interstate near you The Register Guard By Jack Dresser – Mar 4, 2009, Pasco, Wash., is an exceptionally clean, well-kept little city. But as many unhappy homeowners and investors now realize, when something looks too good, you’d better look more closely. Pasco is the gateway to the most contaminated nuclear site in the Western Hemisphere……………………

The Nov. 17 hearing presented a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on the energy department’s earlier proposal to develop a “Global Nuclear Energy Partnership” presented in May, 2007 at the same locations. The DOE snuck in its mandated hearings far from our population centers, with short and little notice. For good reason.

Under the GNEP plan, nuclear fuel would be produced in the U.S. and other advanced nuclear nations through a reprocessing technology that is yet to be developed. The cost is undisclosed but substantial. Nuclear fuel would be provided to developing countries for their nuclear energy development. In return, we would receive their waste for further reprocessing — an international recycling system that would keep the big boys in control of weapons-grade nuclear material production. The DOE claims the reprocessing site isn’t yet selected, but the inside word is that it’s Hanford.

Most of the waste would be shipped by truck or train through Oregon, primarily along the Interstate 5 and Interstate 84 corridors………………………In contrast to the local news, the deceptively soothing DOE handouts had brief and carefully worded descriptions, touting nuclear as an energy source that doesn’t pollute the air (never mind the Earth and water). And its proposed system will allegedly be “proliferation-resistant” (not proliferation-secure), making nuclear materials “nearly impossible” (not impossible) to divert without detection. They were clearly hedging their pledges, and it wasn’t reassuring.

Opinion: Editorials & Letters | “Nuclear waste coming soon to an interstate near you” | The Register-Guard

March 6, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA