Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is the only site under consideration for a proposed repository for 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste from the U.S. weapons complex and commercial nuclear reactors. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to formally recommend the project to the president as early as Saturday (February 9th). Yesterday, the Washington Post and others reported that Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and the Nevada Congressional delegation would meet today, Thursday, Feb. 7th, with President Bush to urge him to reject the site recommendation.
ADD YOUR VOICE TO NEVADA’S OPPOSITION!
Call/e-mail/fax the White House.
Tell President Bush to reject the Yucca Mountain Project and the many tens of thousands of high-level nuclear waste shipments it would launch through 44 States!
CALL: The White House comment line: 202-456-1414 extension 1, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays. Bush may give his approval to Yucca Mountain as early as Monday, Feb. 11th, so calls to the White House on Monday would be great as well!
FAX: 202-456-2461 or send a fax for free through Public Citizen’s website: http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?id=28&source=7
E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov
See sample message for fax/emails below.
For more information about Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste, please visit our website, www.nirs.org, or Public Citizen’s website: www.citizen.org/cmep (click on “nuclear waste”).
Many thanks to Lisa Gue at Public Citizen for initiating this National Call in Day on Yucca Mountain.
—Kevin Kamps, Nuclear Information & Resource Service, 301-270-6477
SAMPLE TEXT For FAX AND E-MAIL:
Dear President Bush:
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is preparing to recommend that a high-level nuclear waste dump be developed at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. I urge you to reject this recommendation.
Last November, the Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General found evidence of apparent conflict of interest involving legal contractors working on the Yucca Mountain Project that undermines the credibility of the pending site recommendation. In December, the General Accounting Office concluded that a site recommendation at this time would be premature because the DOE lacks the research and data to substantiate its repository proposal. Subsequently, in a letter dated January 24, 2002, the presidentially appointed Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board advised Congress that “the technical basis for the DOE’s repository performance estimates is weak to moderate.”
If high-level nuclear waste is dumped at Yucca Mountain, the DOE’s own analyses indicate that it would be only a question of when – not if – dangerous radiation would contaminate the surrounding environment. In addition, the prospect of transporting the proposed 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste through as many as 44 states and the District of Columbia puts millions of Americans at risk.
Please protect public health and safety and oppose the Yucca Mountain Project.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME AND COMPLETE MAILING ADDRESS]