Nuclear and Indigenous Items of Interest: Why the Yucca application should be rejected

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Why the Yucca application should be rejected

Catherine Cortez Masto
For the Appeal
June 8, 2008, 4:01 AM

The United States Department of Energy submitted its license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission on June 3.

Nevada's experts reviewed the application and quickly concluded that it is neither viable nor complete. Therefore, I directed our state's legal team to request that NRC decline to docket it and return it to DOE until the missing information can be provided and the requisite rules and regulations are fully in place.

The long anticipated license application, filed at the behest of DOE higher-ups and representatives in the commercial nuclear power industry, represents a continuation of the poor quality work and unsound science that Nevadans have been subjected to for far too many years. Some of the more glaring deficiencies include:

• Lack of a final radiation health protection standard against which DOE's proposed repository is to be evaluated. This alone is enough to have the application immediately rejected.

• Lack of final NRC repository licensing regulations.

• Absence of a final design for the repository.

• Absence of final design information for the multipurpose canister system that is intended to store, transport and dispose of spent fuel.

• Reliance on engineered barriers (thousands of titanium drip shields) for meeting health and safety standards that DOE does not intend to install in the repository until 300 years after waste has been emplaced, assuming they can be installed at all given the scarcity of titanium and the staggering costs involved.

DOE continues to try to push this project through without living up to its promise to rely on sound science and protecting the safety of our citizens. Nevadans deserve an honest and more respectful effort from their federal representatives. We didn't get that with this license application. Unfortunately, it appears Nevada will once again not get a fair shake from DOE. Therefore, I will not stand by and acquiesce to a continuing course of conduct that will injure the people of this state.

The license application comes at a time when public distrust of DOE is at an all-time high. Recent surveys undertaken by Clark County and the state show more than two-thirds of Nevadans strongly distrust DOE. After more than 25 years of trying to make Yucca Mountain work by manipulating regulations, covering up flaws, and by even falsifying and manipulating data, this clearly deficient license application only serves to reinforce and further deepen the distrust Nevadans have for this project.

DOE appears to have lost touch with the fact that the nation is moving away from Yucca Mountain and toward more realistic and workable solutions. Formerly ardent Yucca supporters like Sen. Pete Domenici and representatives of the nuclear industry are advocating putting Yucca on the back burner in favor of pursuing interim storage, reprocessing and other approaches. Even former Sen. Bennett Johnston, the architect of the 1987 legislation that singled out Yucca Mountain in the first place, has acknowledged that Yucca was a mistake and the nation should be looking for solutions elsewhere.

NRC should reject the license application submitted by DOE, decline to docket it and return it to DOE. Such action on the part of NRC will avoid unnecessary and wasteful expenditures of resources by NRC staff and other potential parties who would otherwise be required to initiate a full review of an enormous license application that is hopelessly incomplete and cannot possibly be the subject of a complete or efficient review.

Nevada is not a wasteland and its state and federal leaders stand united in this historic fight to block development of the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

• Catherine Cortez Masto is the Attorney General for the State of Nevada.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Public Statement by Corbin's Immediate Family

July 10, 2007 (TurtleIsland). Corbin Harney Spiritual Leader of the Western Shoshone Nation crossed over at 11:00 a.m. this morning in a house on a sacred mountain near Santa Rosa, CA (Turtle Island). He had dedicated his life to fighting the nuclear testing and dumping.

That battle claimed his life through cancer.

According to witnesses present, in the morning fog, the spirits of four Shoshone dog soldiers were outside on horseback before Corbin’s passing. But then one of the Shoshone present, Santiago Lozada, yelled “Tosawi Tosawi!” (White Knife). And then the fog shifted and there were thousands of spirits waiting.

Corbin passed peacefully at the end. He was only worried that he still had more to do. When he finally let go and went with the dog soldiers, Red Wolf Pope, grandson of Rolling Thunder, was present and sang him the Tosawi death song to call the dog soldiers to come take him home. Golden eagles continue to circle the house hours after his crossing.”

True to form Corbin joked around several days ago that he was going to go at 11:00, and kept his promise.

Over his lifetime, Corbin traveled around the world as a speaker, healer and spiritual leader with a profound spiritual and environmental message for all. He received numerous national and international awards and spoke before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Corbin also authored two books: “The Way It Is: One Water, One Air, One Earth” (Blue Dolphin Publishing, 1995) and a forthcoming book, “The Nature Way”. Numerous documentaries have been made about his work and message.

In 1994, Corbin established the Shundahai Network to work with people and organizations to respond to spiritual and environmental concerns on nuclear issues. He also established Poo Ha Bah, a native healing center located in Tecopa Springs, California. He will be missed but always honored for his work and dedication to traditional ways.

Corbin Harney is descended from generations of Newe (Shoshone) traditional healers and was always grateful for the many extraordinary teachers who shared their knowledge in his lifetime.

Corbin is survived by his daughter Reynaulda Taylor; granddaughters Ann Taylor and Nada Leno; grandsons Keith, Jon and Joel Leno and William Henry Taylor; seven great-grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; and his sister Rosie Blossom’s family and many cousins and other family members as well as many, many friends around the world. Corbin was preceded in death by his mother, father, sister, grandparents, uncle, great granddaughter, cousins, and friends. A very special thanks to Patricia Davidson, Corbin’s caregiver in his final months; Dominic Daileda, Corbin’s friend and companion for his support and compassion in hard times, and the family of Dixie and Martin van der Kamp for opening up their home and their hearts to Corbin and his family and friends during his time of need.

Dates and times for services are being made with official announcement to follow. Three day services are planned at the home of Larson R. Bill, So Ho Bee – Newe Sogobe (Lee, Nevada –Western Shoshone Territory) with burial services at Battle Mountain Indian Community, Battle Mountain Nevada.