LETTER: Opposition to Yucca storage is costing Nevadans
Our two senators and Rep. Dina Titus have, as in the past, proposed legislation that would block Yucca storage.
Today, there is in excess of 90,000 metric tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste stored throughout the United States. Just think: The rest of the nation wants to give Nevada this spent nuclear fuel for free. In fact, I believe they would even pay the transportation costs to get their nuclear waste here.
France today generates 80 percent of its electricity needs with nuclear power, much of it generated through recycling. Other European countries also recycle nuclear waste. The sad thing is, the United States developed the technology to recapture energy from nuclear waste, then barred its commercial use in 1977. We have practiced a virtual moratorium ever since.
If Nevada opted to build a facility to use proven current safe and cost-effective technology to recycle this “free” nuclear waste and then sell the resulting power to users on the electric grid, it would be a boom to the Nevada economy. Many jobs would be created – and, like Alaska does with its oil revenue, each Nevadan would receive a payment to share in the nuclear recycled energy revenue.
But just like a state lottery, there are those powers in the state who — for whatever reason — prevent the implementation of a revenue opportunity which will benefit all Nevadans.
