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Yucca Mountain hangs in nuclear limbo
SNIP...Snarky commentary first.NYE COUNTY, Nev.--"As you can see, Yucca Mountain isn't really a mountain," says our guide as we near the end of an hour-long bus ride, about 100 miles north from Las Vegas. "Those of you who know geology will recognize it's only a ridge." The Department of Energy gives monthly tours these days, anxious to prove--after almost 25 years--it still intends to open its Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain someday. The trip, however, feels like an expedition into hostile territory. The whole state of Nevada is on the warpath over the project. "See those buildings off on the left there," says our guide as we pass through the sagebrush. "They're brothels. As you may know, prostitution is legal in certain Nevada counties. The state has no trouble supplying them with water, but for almost a year they wouldn't give us any. We used port-o-potties for quite a long time." As it turns out, though, the brothels have their upside. Anticipating a surge in business from the construction project, they are among the few locals supporting the project. "Supporting", is right! Now for the "meat" of the argument. The whole project is now tied down in environmental impact statements. The Environmental Protection Agency set a standard that radiation from the site should not exceed 15 millirems a year (about one chest x-ray) for 10,000 years. Seems reasonable to me. Environmentalists screamed that wasn't enough. They wanted a million years. A federal court, of course, agreed. (another reason for strong, Constitutional judges) So the EPA set a standard of 350 millirems for the next million years (about two-thirds of what people in Denver get from natural sources) and environmentalists are screaming that isn't good enough either. (of course, and I bet they screamed all the way from their super-huge homes or out on their mega-yachts off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. NIMBY to the extreme...I guess this matches the lib's "free speech" issues...."1,000 MW for me, but not for thee!")Nobody has suggested how these standards are to be monitored. "Well, that's summin' else we'll just scream about too," GreenPeace activists yelled. I can't believe someone like these gaia-worshippers can be so hypocritical. We must shut down coal-fired power plants, AND not allow nuclear power AND not allow windmills off the NE's coasts. Just where do these moonbats think energy comes from? Posted by: BA 2006-07-21 |
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