nuclear-news

USA political problem – no State wants nuclear wastes

The timeline for removing Hanford’s nuclear waste could be extended by decades if Obama’s decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain project stands

Nuke waste dump influences races outside Nevada, Google hosted news, By KEVIN FREKING (AP) – 21 Aug 2010, WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s decision to bypass Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository should give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a boost in his bid for a fifth term…….

Washington and South Carolina are plaintiffs in a lawsuit designed to keep Yucca Mountain as an option for stockpiling the nation’s nuclear waste. Both states served critical roles in the development of nuclear weapons during the Cold War, and now both are dealing with the challenge of storing large amounts of high-level nuclear waste for decades to come.

Support for Yucca Mountain in the two states shows that positions on how to deal with nuclear waste are often shaped by regional differences rather than partisan ones. While the fate of Yucca is not a dominant issue in political campaigns outside of Nevada, it could play a contributing role in some close races elsewhere………..

In 2002, Congress designated the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas as the final resting place for nuclear wastes now accumulating at about 80 sites in 35 states. But Obama promised to close down the project during his 2008 campaign. In the general election, he captured Nevada with 55 percent of the vote.

Central Washington is home to the Hanford Nuclear Site, which contains more than 53 million gallons of nuclear waste in 177 underground storage tanks. The timeline for removing Hanford’s nuclear waste could be extended by decades if Obama’s decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain project stands. The Associated Press: Nuke waste dump influences races outside Nevada

August 21, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive