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Volume CLIX, Numl 70
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Copyright 1997, The Hartford Coufant Co. tlldl, M 11 Ill 117 /t-4
David S. Moelling
Let's get our nuclear waste to Nevada soon
The gimmicks and games in the
budget-balancing acts now under
way in Washington produce some
amazing facts. One of the most
amazing is that the safe storage of
nuclear waste is being held up to
help balance the federal budget.
This is accomplished by that
classic federal budget gimmick, the
"trust" fund. The most famous of
these trust funds is, of course, Social
Security, but there are all kinds of
these, such as the Airports and Air
Cojtrol Trust Fund, the Highway
Trust Fund and now the Nuclear
Waste Trust Fund.
The nuclear waste we are talking
about is the used nuclear fuel now
being held at nuclear power plants
all around the country. In Connecti-
cut, this is at Connecticut Yankee
and Millstone. Even though Con-
necticut Yankee is to be permanent-
ly shut down, more than 20 years of
used fuel is still in temporary stor-
age at the site.
Power plants in the United
States are not allowed to send their
used fuel for recycling, like those in Europe and
Japan do, so they must store it until it is sent for
burial deep underground. By law, only the Depart-
ment of Energy is allowed to take this used fuel for
disposal. This is to be paid for by a "fee" (really a
tax) on electridW generated by nuclear energy.
This fee goes into the Nudear Waste Trust fund.
Since 1983, more than $13 billion has been collect-
ed, with $207 million from Connecticut residents
alone.
The law goes on to say that the Department of i
Energy must begin accepting used nuclear fuel by
1998. But DOE says its underground facility won't
be ready until 20 t0 at the earliest.
Why the delay? Is it technical or political? Well,
in the end it all comes down to money. Unspent
Newtmand 50¢
money in the Nuclear Waste
Trust Fund helps reduce the
i " deficit. So deferring any real
expenses till the next centu-
ry helps lower those project-
ed deficits.
If DOE refuses to accept
the fuel soon, utilities will
pay millions of dollars to
build temporary storage fa-
cilities. The state of Con-
necticut and 44 other states
have filed a lawsuit against
DOE to suspend paymems
to the fund until DOE com-
mits to taking fuel in 1998.
Hazel O'Leary, the out-
going secretary of energy,
argued in court that the de-
tails of the law didn't really
apply to the U.S. govern-
mere, so it should be able to
continue to collect the tax
without accepting used nu-
clear fuel. The U.S. Court of
Appeals didn't buy the argu-
ment and neither did Con-
gress and many state gov-
ernments.
Last year, the Senate
passed a bill to force DOE to
build an interim storage fa-
cility at a nuclear test site in Nevada until the per-
manent facility is ready. The technology for this in-
terim storage is well proven and practical. It in-
volves building big steel.and-ooncrete barrels that
hold nuclear fuel bundles.'These are already in use
at pow,r plants that have run mat of regular storage !
space. In New England, the Yankee Rowe plant is
using !these at great expense to store 30 ytrs or •
used uel.
Ptgsident Clinton threatened a veto, however,
and tke congressional session ended without fur-
ther action.
Tle Nevada Test Site is a very good place to
store nuclear waste, since no one is likely to build a
mini-mall here any time soon. Hundreds of tests
have been done both above and below ground until
a few years ago. Even so, the Nevada congression-
al delegation has opposed disposing nuclear fuel
here, thinking it might scare gamblers away from
Vegas. Before the election, Bill Clinton needed
to curry favor with the Nevada delegation, so a veto
was a painless political gift. Now that he's been re-
elected, perhaps good government is possible.
The bill to compel DOE to accept the fuel is
coming up in Congress again soon. Sens. Christo-
pher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, as well as Con-
necticut's congressional delegation, need to vote in
favor of this bill. Nationally, $600 million pours into
the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund every year. It would
take only a small fraction of this to build an interim
storage facility at the test site and leave more than
enough to complete the final disposal site at Yucca
Mountain (right next door to the Nevada Test Site).
President Clinton needs to show that if govern-
ment takes responsibility for a task, then govern-
ment must follow through. He must make sure
DOE dram its job.
L is dli# Viseer at Tetm E.-
ieri .GmP i Sirv.
havre
Letters to the Editor
Continued from page 11
tracks in the High Sierras in the Great Reno Hood of early 1997.
The open trench for railroad tracks through the Reno-SImrks,
Nevada area in the early 21 = century has been proposed in early
1997. This open trench railroad track system could pour diesel
zs"moke on a more grand scale than exists in early 1997 above
ground or on the ground railroad tracks; through Reno-Sparks,
Nevada; especially if 38 freight trains a day pass through.
Is the "Yucca Mucker", multi-million-of-bucks, boring ma-
chine for tunnels too radioactively contaminated to be used in
any future tubes of commerce construction projects in the High
Sierra Mountain Range in the early 21 = century?
David Hermanson
Lulling, NV
Domestic Violence gun ban
Enclosed is the text of a letter sent to Senators Bryan and
Reid concerning the domestic violence gun ban and a copy of
their responses.
One immediately notices that both Senators quote statistics
from the same sources in defense of this odious legislation and
that their numbersdon't agree! In fact, these "statistics" very
much resemble the garbage handed out by Handgun Control,
Inc. toj ustify their anti-Constitutional agenda. I might also note
that the FBI under the current Attorney General and current
director is no friend of Honest gun owners and The New
England Journal of Medicine along with The Center for
Disease Control considers
firearm ownership a "public
health" problem (I don't re-
| :ucall a,,reference to "public
( ,health intheSecondAmend-
ment).
The attitude of both our
Senators seems to be that the
Washington, D.C. Politicians
have determined that states
are not acting in a politically
correct manner so it is up to
the Federal Government to
DO THE RIGHT THING.
Really Senators? I hadn't
heard that the Tenth Amend-
ment was repealed.
Senator Bryan completely
avoids the Constitutional
question I raised and he would
bot express any support for
honest gun owners in our state.
Incidentally, he did vote for
Clinton's "assault weapons
ban" after stating publicly that
he would not.
Senator Reid addresses the ex-postfacto question with a
convoluted statement (I can't call ii logic) that contefids that
adding a punishment after conviction and sentencing is not
adding a punishment. This is a best legal gibberish and at worst
an attack on the very fabric of the Constitution.
Senator Reid also contends that he is a friend of the Second
Amendment. However, his voting record speaks differently.
He voted for the useless Brady Bill and Clinton's bogus
"assault weapons" ban.
I must conclude that honest firearms owners in Nevada
have no friends in the U.S. Senate.
Editors note: Referenced Letters on f'de at Gazette office.
Lloyd Hauger
Notice
service surveying firm
Boundry Surveys Subdivisions
Topography Improvement Locatiou Surveys
Full Construction STaking Surveys
• Plot & Grading Plans
Pursuant to NRS 244.085 (7), the Nye
County Board of Commissioners will hold
its second meeting of April on Tuesday,
April 15, 1997, at the Bob Ruud Commu-
nity Center located on Highway 160 &
East Basin Road, Pahrump, Nevada. The
meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m.
Publish 3/27, 4/3, 4/10.
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