Barack Obama explains Yucca Mountain stance - Opinion

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May. 20, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Barack Obama explains Yucca Mountain stance

To the editor:

In response to Erin Neff's Tuesday column, "Obama and Yucca":

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I want every Nevadan to know that I have always opposed using Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository, and I want to explain the many reasons why I've held that view.

In my state of Illinois, we have faced our own issues of nuclear waste management. There are some who believe that Illinois should serve as a repository for nuclear waste from other states. My view on this subject was made clear in a 2006 letter to Sen. Pete Domenici, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. "States should not be unfairly burdened with waste from other states," I wrote. "Every state should be afforded the opportunity to chart a course that addresses its own interim waste storage in a manner that makes sense for that state."

That is a position I hold to this day when it comes to both Illinois and Nevada.

After spending billions of dollars on the Yucca Mountain Project, there are still significant questions about whether nuclear waste can be safely stored there. I believe a better short-term solution is to store nuclear waste on-site at the reactors where it is produced, or at a designated facility in the state where it is produced, until we find a safe, long-term disposal solution that is based on sound science.

In the meantime, I believe all spending on Yucca Mountain should be redirected to other uses, such as improving the safety and security of spent fuel at plant sites around the country and exploring other long-term disposal options.

There is no doubt that this is a difficult issue. But I believe our approach must be based on sound science above all else. I do not do the bidding of any special interest or industry, including the nuclear industry, which has a major presence in my state.

In my own campaign, I have not accepted donations from political action committees or Washington lobbyists. In fact, I've often taken positions at odds with special interests. When I learned that radioactive tritium had leaked out of an Exelon nuclear plant in Illinois, I led an effort in the Senate to require utilities to notify the public of any unplanned release of radioactive substances.

All Nevadans should know that as president, I will bring to this issue not just independent judgment and careful deliberation, but a personal appreciation that comes from my own experience of living in the back yard of hazardous nuclear materials. The safety and security of Nevadans and all Americans requires nothing less.

Barack Obama

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The writer represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate and is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. r ricks wrote on March 04, 2009 02:04 PM: So what you're saying, now Mr. President is that you will allow politics to run the show, such like your track record since becoming a Senator in Illinois. The right thing, and moral thing to do is to NOT let politics decide what to do on this subject. In other words, let science decide, and not politicians. You will never have full agreement on what to do with waste, let alone radioactive waste. I live in a state that was part of one of those compacts you refer to, and just so happened to be the state chosen to be the storage site. Well, when the chips were down, our politicians decided they didn't want to play anymore. So much for science! Respectfully, R Ricks Omaha, NE Payday Loan Advocate wrote on September 29, 2008 10:16 PM: The short term financial assistance that payday lenders offer, often are one of the fastest and safest ways out of a sticky financial situation if used responsibly. Unfortunately, people of somewhat political importance don’t see it this way, probably because they have never been in a situation that would require a little help from the payday loan industry. These bipartisan efforts to outlaw the entire industry just go to show how detached they are from real Americans. Get educated on the facts today and exercise your right to financial freedom on November 4th. Post Courtesy of Personal Money Store Professional Blogging Team Feed Back: 1-866-641-3406 Home: http://personalmoneystore.com/NoFaxPaydayLoans.html Blog: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/ bob_7 wrote on September 23, 2008 06:57 PM: Sound science says it takes thousands of years for this radiactive material to get to a point where it is no longer harmful to humans. You can't just speed the decaying cycle of all of this material, it's not that simple. Any long term solution is going to require it beig stuck somewhere for a long time, so why spread it out and place dangerous materials in multiple locations? And anyways, sound science also would show that putting the nuclear waste deep underground will keep it from hurting people. I hear talk sound science in this article, but unfortunately the science itself isnt a part of this article. ron bourgoin wrote on May 21, 2007 09:40 AM: The Illinois senator surely understands that spending on Yucca Mountain cannot be discontinued since the current motivation is to show Yucca Mountain safe for storage of nuclear waste. And if I read the senator correctly, once Yucca Mountain is pronounced safe, he'll support long-term storage there. artath_bet wrote on May 20, 2007 07:48 AM: This denial of being in the pockets of any any Washington lobbyists or political action committees is way too abstract. Obama has left himself lots of wiggle room with words that are more or less weasel words such as Believe. Well, we all believe something, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. This is just so much campaign blah, blah, blah.