Rural towns support Yucca Mountain plan
by Claudia Aguayo, Outpost Contributor
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In this package: Controversy surrounds nuclear waste Reno declares itself 'Nuclear Free Zone' On the Web: Environmental Protection Agency
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Despite statewide efforts to prevent the proposed waste site at Yucca Mountain, the project is well under way, and has a significant backing in Nevada.
"There are a lot of people out there who would really like to see this thing happen," said Virginia Kellermeyer, a University of Nevada professor with extensive knowledge on the proposed site.
Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied for a permanent nuclear waste dump, said Peter Chamberlin, director of planning for Inyo County in California who has physically studied the site over the last four years.
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Map and picture courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy |
The repository, designed to open in 2010, would hold 77,000 tons of spent radioactive fuel rods from the nation's nuclear power plants for up to 10,000 years. Designs call for building more than 100 miles of tunnels about 1100 feet below the mountain's surface and the main tunnel is already constructed Chamberlin said.
Nuclear utilities currently store the high-level fuel rods, that have become too radioactive to use, in ponds at their plants. They say while the rods can be stored on site for many years, underground storage would provide better protection against environmental disasters.
Nevadans who oppose the site out-number those who support it four to one, according to University of Nevada polls and published surveys. Although Yucca Mountain supporters are the minority in Nevada, they have put significant effort into promoting positive attitudes toward the site.
The nuclear industry alone spent an estimated $10 million between 1990 and 1995 on electronic and print ads aimed at reducing public fears of nuclear health risks and winning acceptance from a greater number of residents.
The Nevada Cattleman's Association also backs the Yucca Mountain site, arguing that it would improve the state's economy and would increase revenue for schools and other programs.
Gov. Bob Miller and U.S. senators Richard Bryan and Harry Reid have continuously opposed storing the country's nuclear waste in Nevada since 1982, when Nevada was first targeted as a prospective site, said Karyn Purchgasser, a spokesperson for Sen. Richard Bryan. Government officials have used the fact that Nevada uses no nuclear power as one of their primary arguments against being held responsible for housing the waste.
Former state Sen. Bill O'Donnell was the first Nevada politician to publicly declare support for the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
The Las Vegas Republican criticized Nevada's congressional delegation in a 1991 Reno Gazette-Journal article for opposing the dump and accused it of "misinforming the public" about the issue.
"The Nevada delegation is not doing its job and its about time they started doing it," O'Donnell said. He argued that the delegation's fight against the nuclear waste repository is costing Nevadans jobs.
Some Nevadans feel the site would hurt the economy more than it would help it. The larger picture is that the biggest issue in the state, tourism, is being threatened, Purchgasser said.
But Purchgasser went on to say, "It's not a job issue, it's an issue of health and safety."
A great deal of support for the site is based on potential economic prosperity. One study on Nevadans' attitudes toward the project cited that rural Nevada cities favor the project more than urban residents because of the potential economic effects.
"It's going to affect us in a good way; more jobs and more money," said Corey Streeter, a seven-year resident of rural Beatty, located about 45 highway miles from Yucca Mountain.
Such rural cities have historically grown because of gold and silver booms. Within the last decade, Beatty has experienced similar growth as a result of employment opportunities linked to the Nevada Test Site and other military programs.
Residents hope the proposed Yucca Mountain site will have similar effects. Experts estimate that the proposed site will bring between 2,000 and 2,500 additional jobs to Nevada, Chamberlin said.
Many supporters of the site agree that Nevada is the most appropriate place to put it and the site should therefore be allowed to exist.
"Somewhere along the line, someone has to step up to the plate and take responsibility," Kellermeyer said.
Kellermeyer said the debate over storing the waste in Nevada was an issue of humanism, where the right of the individual versus that of society.
"There's this whole attitude, 'not in my back yard,' but where are we going to put it if that's what everyone is saying?"
copyright 12/16/96