Editorial: Pro-dump legislators misguided

The timing is uncanny. It seems that in every instance Congress moves forward in its attempt to store high-level nuclear waste in Nevada, a scientific report comes out questioning whether this waste can even be safely stored here.

Last week was no exception. A House subcommittee voted 25-0 on Wednesday in favor of a plan that would send nuclear waste to the Nevada Test Site by 2003 for so-called "temporary storage" while the Department of Energy probes whether nearby Yucca Mountain is viable for a permanent repository. "Today's event is good news for Americans," Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Va., chairman of the Commerce Committee, said. "The bill will fix the problem by creating one solitary and safe storage site for our nation's high-level nuclear waste."

This is exactly the type of thinking -- putting the cart before the horse -- that has made this whole process riddled with politics and practically bereft of science. It's too bad members of Congress, including Bliley, simultaneously weren't bothering to read a recent report by scientific experts assessing the lack of scientific progress at Yucca Mountain.

As the Sun's Mary Manning reported Friday, a technical review panel that evaluates the research at Yucca Mountain believes the Department of Energy needs to do more work at the site before it can ever consider placing a high-level nuclear waste repository there. The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, a group of independent scientists, chastised the 2001 deadline to determine whether Yucca Mountain is suitable as being too ambitious. The board's report also noted information was sketchy regarding the stability of the tunnels that are supposed to hold the waste deep inside the mountain, the failure rates of the waste canisters, and how fast water moves through the mountain.

Setting aside for a moment the legitimate scientific concerns raised so far about Yucca Mountain, it seems ridiculous for Congress to even try moving forward with legislation designating Nevada as a "temporary" waste site since President Clinton has made so clear his resolve to veto such irresponsible legislation. Congress' misguided actions on nuclear waste storage have shown time and again how little it cares about public safety; too many members of Congress spend their time instead bowing before the altar of the nuclear power lobby.

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