By Dave Kraft

President Bush has recommended the controversial Yucca Mt., Nevada, site to become the nation's "high-level" radioactive waste (HLRW) perpetual storage dump. This occurred in spite of the numerous technical problems with the site and the process.

Recently, the US House voted 306 to 117 to approve Yucca, in spite of enormous unresolved technical and transportation issues. In Illinois, environmental stalwarts like Danny Davis, Luis Gutierrez, and Rod Blagojevich switched sides and supported the Yucca selection, even though according to DOE, as many as 36,300 shipments of HLRW would crisscross Illinois over a 24-year period — four per day, every day.

Enormous media distortions, incomplete reporting, fraudulent editorializing by the Chicago Tribune and others, and a huge last-minute pro-Yucca Mt. ad campaign financed by Chicago EarthDay steward ComEd, the IBEW, and Exelon all conspired effectively to manipulate the outcome. Now, only the Senate vote — expected in late June — stands in the way of this travesty becoming national policy.

Numerous problems have been identified with the site over the years. The Government Accounting Office states that over 290 unresolved technical issues alone exist. Among the most glaring and persistent, and which really question the site's viability, are the following:

• Chlorine-36 — produced during nuclear weapons tests — has been found inside the mountain. Nuclear tests have only occurred the past 60 years. A pathway exists for Cl-36 to enter the mountain, suggesting a pathway also exists for radioactive materials to escape.

• Yucca Mt. is in a geologically active area. Evidence of volcanism within the past 10,000 years exists; and 625 earthquakes 2.5 or greater on the Richter scale have occurred within 50 miles of Yucca since 1976. A 5.6 magnitude earthquake did extensive damage to DOE's Project Field Office in 1992.

• Evidence suggests that hot water once welled up from beneath Yucca Mt. into the strata under consideration for the HLRW. If this happens again while wastes are present, they will be easily released.

• Scientists recently discovered that long-lived plutonium in HLRW migrates far faster than previously thought, and could actually reach aquifers at Yucca within 70 years once released.

• Moisture destroyed almost 80% of measuring equipment in a test chamber within one year, suggesting the mountain may not be as dry as thought.

Recent revelations about the Yucca Mt. site and the political process all argue against its selection:

• In December 2001, the DOE further weakened its standards so the government no longer must prove that the site's underground rock formations would prevent radioactive contamination.

• A December 2001 GAO study states a "loss of management control" of studies on the safety and suitability of Yucca Mt. to hold thousands of tons of HLRW, and that DOE has yet to resolve 293 technical issues at Yucca Mt.

• The Dept. of Transportation revealed that it is not prepared to deal with massive amounts of HLRW transport that Yucca Mt. and WIPP would generate (including 36,300 truck shipments through Illinois).

• Conflict of interest charges against DOE and its contractor, Winston and Strawn.

• The federal government's Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board reported to Congress in January that "the technical basis for the DOE's repository performance estimates is weak to moderate at this time" and concluded, "The board has limited confidence in current performance estimates generated by the DOE's performance assessment model."

• A 3-21-2002 report from GAO stated, "DOE is not prepared to submit an acceptable license application to NRC within the statutory limits that would take effect if the site is approved."

• Former DOE Yucca Mt. project manager John Bartlett stated that the site would never achieve legal standards.

• An article appeared in Science magazine (4-26-02) highly critical of the Yucca Mt. site: "The disposal of high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mt. is based on unsound engineering strategy and poor use of present understanding of the properties of spent nuclear fuel....To move ahead without first addressing the outstanding scientific issues will only continue to marginalize the role of science and detract from the credibility of the DOE effort."

The effective use of the media by the nuclear industry once again has brought them near victory. Op-eds in support of Yucca Mt. are nothing new for the Chicago Tribune, which ran two in early 2002 without the benefit of rebuttal. Similar wording appeared in other editorials in Illinois, suggesting the use of press releases from the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear trade group.

Activists sent in rebuttal letters and pointed out factual errors found in the Tribune op-eds. The Tribune's Bruce Dold complained about the length of submittals, and said if shorter pieces were submitted, they would be considered; he also pledged to print corrections of factual errors. The Tribune did neither.

An exasperated Nuclear Energy Information Service challenged it to a public debate — moderated by CMW's own Liane Casten. The Tribune declined to defend its position publicly.

Finally, on each of the three days before the May House vote, full-page ads supporting Yucca Mt. appeared in many major Illinois newspapers. Given the vote switch of several Illinois Democrats in an election year, the ads clearly worked, and the price paid will have been well worth it to the industry.

The lies perpetuated by the nuclear industry and its media allies will be allowed to stand, simply because of their deep pockets. The nation needs real solutions for its HLRW problem. Yucca Mt. is a political sham, a way to allow the nuclear industry to keep making wastes, regardless of the effects on people, the environment, or the economy.

Contact the following senators, urging them to reject the Yucca Mt. proposal:
Peter Fitzgerald, (202) 224-2854, (312) 886-3506
Richard Durbin, (202) 224-2152, (312) 353-4952.

For details, contact NEIS at P.O. Box 1637, Evanston, IL 60204-1637, (847)869-7650. The NEIS website is at www.neis.org.