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Huntsman: Nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain up to Nevadans
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Kevin Clifford/Associated Press
Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman talks to reporters during a campaign stop in Reno.
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Former Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman and his wife, Mary Kaye, compete in a fast-draw competition at the Reno Rodeo on Friday. Kevin Clifford/Associated Press
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
RENO -- Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman predicted Friday that Yucca Mountain never will become the nation's nuclear repository as long as Nevadans oppose it.
After an appearance at Washoe County Republican headquarters, Huntsman said what happens to Yucca Mountain "depends on what the people of Nevada want." As long as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other members of the congressional delegation remain opposed to the repository, he said, then it never will open. He later described his relationship with Reid as "professional."
Two hours later during an appearance at the Reno Rodeo, Huntsman said that since 2005 he has been on record as opposed to the Yucca Mountain repository because of his concern about hauling spent nuclear fuel across the country.
"I was on record as saying it is not good for the Western United States because of transportation issues, the possibility of accidents," he said. "I called for a national policy of using casks to store spent fuel (at the sites of nuclear power plants) with the long-term solution of on-site reprocessing."
Hunstman, the former Utah governor and ambassador to China, attracted about 50 people to his Republican appearance. His timing for the rodeo appearance was off because rodeo fans didn't arrive until after he left.
But he and his wife, Mary Kaye, walked through the mud and around horses to greet performing cowboys, watch quick-draw gunfighters and carnival hawkers.
"I think he was OK," said Joe Martin, a retired Reno rodeo executive.
"He seemed personable," added Assemblyman Kelly Kite, R-Minden, who met Huntsman at the GOP headquarters.
Washoe County Republican Chairman Ralph McMullen said that no one is picking a candidate now and that his party wants as many presidential candidates as possible to visit.
At a lunch with Gov. Brian Sandoval, a fellow Republican, Huntsman discussed his moves to revitalize the Utah economy when he was governor. Utah cut income taxes and offered companies incentives, but they had to earn them before receiving funds.
Utah was named by Forbes magazine as "the best place in America to do business," Huntsman said, adding he proved popular with Democrats and other voters as he received nearly 80 percent of the vote in his re-election victory.
As Utah governor, Huntsman opposed the Southern Nevada Water Authority move to pump water from eastern Nevada ranches to Las Vegas.
He said Friday he was concerned the pumping would ruin water basins on the Utah side of the line and harm Utah farmers.
"Some of those farms have been there more than a hundred years, and to pump their water might have ended their lifestyles," he said, adding he thought the final decision the water pumping should depend on what scientists and hydrologists decide.
He noted he is the only presidential candidate from the West and "that matters because we have very unique issues, land use issues, rural education issues, budget problems, water, keeping lands beautiful." Huntsman fended off questions about his religious views.
He is a Mormon, but noted in a Time magazine interview that he was more "spiritual" than religious.
He declined to answer what he meant by spiritual, joking that "I am not running for guru."
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.
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Recently, in the last week and a half, there was a PBS show investigating the Tennessee Valley Authority for their inability and FAILURE to "self-report." This is the program where they basically oversee, watch, regulate, report, and fix any problems with their nuclear power generation plants! There also was offered the alternative storage site in NEW MEXICO, where the community (most of it) are begging that the high level radioactive waste be transported and stored there (which makes some sense due to the testing labs at Los Alamos!). Nevada and Nevadans don't want this hazardous material now or in the future. As far as the money pit called the Yucca Mountain High Level Radioactive Waste Repository is concerned, just consider it a past earmark pork stimulus to employ people and inject money into Nevada's economy! That's okay. But it is still a project Nevadans want closed down. The USA government is well known for spending waste and here's where they put it!
@print The transport and storage casks (for Yucca) are different and more robust then the ones to store the material 'temporarily'. Also nuclear plants are located near water sources to further add to the problem of the waste (unlike Yucca).
@Kellan88_8: During the summer, more than 10 percent of Las Vegas electricity comes nuclear power plants on the Western Grid. And that is just one way you benefit. Cleaner air from less coal plants is another.
Unless of course, you cut off power to your air conditioner, iPod, XBox, refrigerator, Prius, etc. for 2.4 hours every day. Can I choose which 2.4 hours for you?
The people should be able to vote.
Then the courts and the paid activists on the bench could overturn the will of the people. That's the proper way.
obviously the yucca mtn issue is but one more facet of the leftist regime's determination to bankrupt the u.s.. eliminating all but economically foolish, pie in the sky, decades down the road at best, energy sources guarantees the empty suit's promise to skyrocket consumer energy costs. i can afford a doubling or trebling of my electric and home heating bill. they are lready admirably very low. likely the limo liberals can as well. so far, the chinese and others have soaked up the ponzi scheme debt instruments. how long is that going to last with more than one significant bond rating agency downgrading or threatening to downgrade those ponzi'd rollovers. worse than the fatal, interest only loans, the federal gubmit continues to borrow even more. perhaps some leftist financial wizard can explain how a negative amortization loan can help the borrower get up off the mat. under the "management" of the empty suit, payday loan, pawn shop, car loan re-finance, defaulted storage locker auction, car repo, bk lawyer businesses are flourishing. what's next ? mebbe citizens could sell indenture contracts on their bambinos. bankruptcy, be it through skyrocketing energy costs, exploding national debt, rising un and under employment, illegal infiltrator invasion, now a 4th war [oooops, "kinetic action"], are "changes you can count on". long live chairman empty suit.
Harry Reid says: My fellow Nevadans, I am doing the best I can to "KEEP THESE HIGH PAYING JOBS OUTSIDE OF NEVADA" ------------- Join the SEIU, make beds at the Bellagio for minimum wage, and vote DemocRATic - please continue to be the Sheep you are, and believe in "YES WE CAN + HOPE AND CHANGE"
@fred - i think you're mistaken. it's conservatives who think there's terrorists behind every tree. after all, the libs support those guys, building monuments and voting them into office. :)
as for the cask(ets): if they last 300,000 years then i don't see the problem with each state keeping it's own waste in-state. seems like that would reduce risk even further - the less you have to move or handle something, the more likely it is to stay intact. plus, it's sort of a version of personal responsibility for states. want the benefit of that cheap electricity? fine. you have to live with the processing plant somewhere within your eyesight. want pristine, unspoiled land? fine. you have to live with higher prices for your juice but at least the kangaroo rats will thrive. oh wait, we'd rather ship our trash out of state or even country. we can have it all in this country!
actually, i'll just take your word for it regarding the info. giving you a hard time i'd prefer not to read all the "science", though. scientists work for governments or corporations that tell them what results they want. it's job security. that's why most scientists say global warming is true.
i'll trust your expert opinion and diligence in researching this, but with due respect to all the scientists, i'll continue to drive my suv, smoke cigarettes and eat french fries cooked in bacon grease.
Folks along the highway haven't gotten rid of their "Say NO to Yucca Mountain" signs. Just stop in at any of the service stations or businesses, or ask a resident in Alamo, Ash Springs, Rachel, etc., it is still pretty fresh in their minds. Last time I looked, they are are also considered Nevadans, and they most certainly have spoken for many years!
The casinos don't want this in their backyard. With their ability to pump millions into politicians pockets to prevent this, the citizens have little say in the matter. Money talks.
I'm glad to see someone at least talking about doing SOMETHING with the waste, and I think some sort of recycling effort is probably inevitable. It wouldn't surprise me if recycling were even involved if Yucca Mountain was ever revived. But the first problem this still leaves is schedule. Good for them, for even considering recycling. But if it takes another two hundred years to figure out how to do it, and then do it, why should the industry give up on a solution like Yucca Mountain, that ALREADY EXISTS? The second problem this leaves unsolved is the money already spent on Yucca Mountain. Even if someone finds a way to leave all the waste in place while recycling it, which is not guaranteed, the nuclear utility ratepayers still have a legitimate legal right to have all the money that was spent on Yucca Mountain returned. WITH INTEREST.