Discussion: 8 comments so far…

1. By Future2012

   11/9/08 at 1:55 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Just Remember the NEI stands ready to sue and win and take over the Yucca project.

   Ward Sproat will not be there. If Obama puts an an unqualifired person in then the esult will be the same.

   Let the NRC process play out.

   Jon, Why be afraid of the consequences of real science.

2. By Ardent

   11/10/08 at 4:25 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Jon Ralston:

   You are the best political commentator in the state, and I look forward to the day when you enter the national scene where you belong, rather than the occasional guest spot on shows like Hardball (you'd be perfect for such a venue).

   However, you've got the wrong end of the stick on this Yucca Mountain question. The construction of a national repository, as you well know, is a matter of law, as set forth in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). Technically, there is no legal way for a president to "withdraw" the DOE's repository license application currently under review by the NRC.

   I suppose the president can instruct or order his appointee for Secretary of Energy to withdraw the application, but he would do so in violation of the NWPA, which does not contain an explicit mechanism for a presidential withdrawal after the site recommendation (Bush used his presidential power as granted under the NWPA to approve Yucca Mountain as the recommended site).

   Without an amendment to the NWPA (i.e., an act by the legislative branch), any president who withdraws the license application will render the federal government liable to further lawsuits by the nuclear utilities. The NWPA promised these utilities that DOE would take nuclear waste off their hands by 1998. DOE's failure to deliver on that promise (due in large part to delays imposed by Harry Reid) has already resulted in several lawsuits, to the tune of about $500 million.

   Because the DOE has not taken receipt of waste from nuclear utilities, those utilities have incurred additional storage costs, and have successfully sued the federal government to be reimbursed for those costs.

   Taxpayers, naturally, bear those costs, and if the next president withdraws the license application without amending the NWPA, taxpayers will continue to pay as the lawsuit awards mount into the billions.

3. By perpeterson

   11/10/08 at 6:41 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   The NRC review of the DOE Yucca Mountain involves an independent scientific and technical appraisal to determine whether the application demonstrates compliance with the million-year EPA safety standard.

   It would be extraordinarily disappointing, and invite lawsuits, to see the Obama administration use executive branch authority to terminate this scientific review, particularly in a case where there would be a clear perception that withdrawing the application is a political payoff to supporters during the primary election.

   The DOE license application shows very large margins for compliance with the million-year EPA standard. The problem is not with the capability of the repository to comply with the safety standard, but instead is with our policy for how and when to use this repository.

   Rather than using executive branch authority to terminate the NRC license review, what we really need is the political leadership to craft a major revision to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act that would establish a long-term national policy to store and recycle rather than dispose spent fuel, strictly limit the use of Yucca Mountain to defense high level wastes and materials that have high heat generation or conceivable long-term economic value, authorize construction of a repository next to the existing WIPP facility that would be strictly limited to residual, low-heat-rate wastes from civil reprocessing that would have no conceivable long-term economic value, and provide substantial economic compensation to affected communities.

   Per Peterson

4. By jfnance32

   11/10/08 at 7:09 p.m.

   Suggest removal

   Obama said that he would "end the notion of Yucca".

   That is a clear cut promise to kill Yucca.

5. By johnevegas

   11/11/08 at 4:41 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   "end the notion of Yucca"

   I'm so glad you have this flag to wave nance. It's going to make it much more fun for the next eight years.

   Here's mine...
   "I'm a uniter, not a divider".

6. By Impeach_Harry_Reid

   11/11/08 at 8:17 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   Indeed, Ralston is plain wrong on this issue.

   Obama cannot, and will not, "withdraw" the License Application. (To follow Reid's plan would result in 11 nuclear waste repositories in his home state of Illinois...)
   He will simply "revise" or "refine" his position as he has done all campaign season long...

   Nance: Your naivite never ceases to amaze!

7. By Ardent

   11/11/08 at 8:17 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   For years now, the political discussion on Yucca Mountain has been little more than an elaborate oath-taking ceremony. It's like reciting vows when you join a club or social organization, like the Shriners or the Masons.

   Our own politicians, in making the discussion more like an admissions test than a deliberation, have established the pattern for seekers of national office, and this is why EVERY politician who comes to Nevada expresses opposition to Yucca Mountain. John McCain, for all of his other faults, was a rare exception in this case; he actually gave us "straight talk" on the issue of nuclear power and the vital need for a national repository.

   So why is it so difficult to assess Nevadans' true feelings on the subject of Yucca Mountain? Why is it so hard to peg how they rank the issue in terms of importance?

   Because George W. Bush told Nevadans what they wanted to hear in 2000, only to reneg on his promises in 2002, when he signed the site recommendation that ratified the choice of Yucca Mountain as a national repository for nuclear waste.

   Did Nevadans punish Bush for going back on his word? No, of course not. They voted him back into office in 2004.

   In short, there are campaign pledges and statements of position, and then there are political realities. If history has shown us nothing else, it's that the two seldom align, at least on the subject of Yucca Mountain.

   If Obama fails to "end the notion of Yucca Mountain," it will be consistent with what every administration since Reagan has done, and no amount of hand-wringing or weeping and wailing about broken promises will change it.

   Expressing support for Yucca Mountain will keep you from getting a seat at the political table, but once you have that seat, you are free to reneg on any promises you made. Nevadans will not hold you accountable because they might not care that much in the first place.

   They just wanted a sign that you have joined their "club," which amounts to a pledge of allegiance without actual accountability.

8. By Impeach_Harry_Reid

   11/11/08 at 8:22 a.m.

   Suggest removal

   Ardent: Well said!!!