Editorial: Science over politics

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush has gone on record stating that any decision to store the nation's high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain should be based on science, not politics. That position has been steadfastly maintained by the Clinton administration.

While President Clinton has been true to his word on this subject we have strong doubts whether the governor of Texas will live up to his vow if elected president in November. The latest reason for our doubts comes from Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a Bush friend and leading proponent of attempts to ship nuclear waste to the mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

In response to a question from Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., about Bush's position on nuclear waste, Domenici said a short-term repository would be built in six to eight months following the election of a Republican president "because it's totally safe, whether they'll put it in your state or somewhere else, I don't know."

Domenici obviously has made up his mind that a short-term repository would be safe. With all due respect to the senator, we strongly believe he has no evidence to back his claim. We have seen no proof that a short-term repository built on such an abbreviated schedule would be safe. Domenici should not be making claims on the floor of the Senate that he cannot document.

He also kidded no one when he suggested that Congress would consider "somewhere else" to build the dump. Yucca Mountain regrettably is the only site being considered.

The statement from Domenici is merely the latest example of just how partisan the nuclear waste issue has become. Virtually every Republican senator automatically votes on legislation to ship nuclear waste to Nevada, only to be blunted by Nevada's hard-working delegation and Clinton's threatened vetoes. The GOP obviously has not acted in the best interests of science.

If Bush becomes our next president, we are not convinced that he will be able to sway his Republican colleagues in the Senate to consider science, rather than politics. If Bush is truly sincere, he would have a chat with Domenici and like-minded GOP senators and remind them that decisions on nuclear waste based on politics rather than science will be dangerous for Nevada and every other state between here and a nuclear power plant.

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