Yucca Mountain politics

Friday, April 8, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

In a hearing in the House of Representatives last week, Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho grilled Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jaczko came under fire because he told staff to quit working on the technical review of the plans to store the nation’s nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Jaczko was responding to the Obama administration’s decision to abandon the plan.

According to Reuters news service, Simpson later told reporters that Jaczko “made decisions unilaterally that I don’t think he has the authority to make” and alleged that the commission was making “political decisions.”

Simpson’s criticism is part of a larger effort by the nuclear industry’s supporters in Congress to try to save the foolish Yucca Mountain plan since President Barack Obama announced he was abandoning it. House Republicans recently launched an investigation into Jaczko’s actions. They question Jaczko’s motives because he previously worked for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has led the fight against a Yucca dump. Never mind the campaign contributions and support Yucca allies in Congress get from the nuclear industry.

Jaczko defended his actions, saying they were apolitical. He reasoned that it’s not up to the commission to require the administration to pursue a Yucca dump. Indeed. In this era of budget cutting, shouldn’t Republicans be applauding Jaczko for not spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money to review a plan that the administration isn’t pursuing?

Republicans have complained about Obama pulling the plug on Yucca Mountain, but it was a wise decision. The plan is dangerous, expensive and unworkable. And politics? Simpson and his pro-nuclear allies are being hypocritical making that charge, considering the project’s history.

The idea for a “repository” for the nation’s waste was born several decades ago and founded on the idea that casks of radiation would be stored underground where the geology would naturally shield the environment from the radiation. Scientists looked across the nation for someplace that would not only contain the radiation but would also keep out water, fearing that water would seep through and corrode steel casks, causing radiation to leak.

They had some sites, but the states they were in had political clout and didn’t want the nuclear waste. Nevada, at the time, had little power in Washington. So Congress passed what is infamously called the “Screw Nevada bill” in 1987, ending the scientific quest for the best site and designating Yucca Mountain as the nation’s nuclear waste dump.

In the decades since, scientists have tried to prove Yucca Mountain’s suitability. Specifications and requirements have been tweaked to try to qualify Yucca Mountain, but it hasn’t worked. There is no escaping that this is a poor plan. Yucca Mountain is a porous volcanic ridge in a region prone to earthquakes.

But politics have largely prevailed as the nuclear industry and other states have lined up to support it, over Nevada’s fierce opposition. Despite serious safety and scientific issues, President George W. Bush in 2002 gave the Energy Department the go-ahead to move forward with the plan to build a repository at Yucca Mountain.

Nuclear supporters in Congress cheered and dismissed Nevada’s vigorous objections, with some members of Congress suggesting Nevada should consider that it would be doing its duty for the nation.

So much for the Republicans who profess a love for states’ rights.

This isn’t just about the plan being bad for Nevada, but it’s also bad for the country. Unfortunately, politics — not science — prevailed. The other states don’t want the waste in their backyards, and for years they have thrown their weight around and gotten their way. Now they accuse anyone who opposes them of being political?

That’s not just hypocritical, that’s shameful.