Elizabeth Crum

Yucca Facts today posts a letter from Ty Cobb, a former Reagan official, to key Nevada decision makers re: Yucca Mountain, as well as a letter Cobb penned to Bruce Breslow, the new executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

I have long hoped that Nevadans could/would be fully and fairly informed about Yucca Mountain and that the NANP and Harry Reid and others would stop doing their utmost to kill every proposal for Yucca before a detailed debate has been had.  Nevada citizens deserve unbiased information on Yucca so we can weigh the real pros and cons of hosting the waste facility - and possibly a reprocessing center.  We need to understand the safety issues and consider all the costs and benefits so we can make an informed decision.

I have done some reading and research and I believe safe transportation and storage are possible; that a viable reprocessing center would solve many of the present concerns about volume; that a world-class university R&D center at the plant would be a boon to our higher education system and the state; and that the $100 billion injection into our economy plus an estimated 8,000 jobs during construction would be very good for Nevada.

I sure hope Bruce Breslow will give things a fair shake.

Everything I proposed above is already being done in France and dozens of other nations around the world.  The United States is way behind most of the developed world when it comes to nuclear power plants, storage, and reprocessing – because of the fear-mongering and misinformation dissemination that has been allowed to go on for so long.

King George of the Let Them Eat Cake blog has noted that Obama’s change.gov site invites his beloved citizens to contact him and “share their vision” with his administration. George snarkily suggests how O might process and manage the millions of bright ideas coming in.  You can click thru for his thoughts (which are very amusing) and my cake-inspired sample letter just below his post.

Nicky Cheese clicked around and noted that change.gov also invites people to fill out an O admin job application online.  Nic is super excited about working for the new Obamastration and has already applied and begun apartment hunting in D.C.  This afternoon he forwarded me the touchingly personal note he received from Obama:

“Thank you for your interest in joining the Obama-Biden Administration. Within a few days, you will receive an email with a link to the more complete on-line application. Please be patient, as we are trying to respond promptly to the large number of people who are interested in working in the Administration.”

I am so inspired that I am also going to apply.  Suggest you do the same before all the good jobs are gone.

(Nic ~ can you convince the powers that be to throw up a Blogivists discussion board on this so we can all compare notes?  I suspect we can have some fun with this.)

This community organizer position is paying $35,000 to $45,000 plus benefits. 

Seems the All-Powerful and All-Knowing Wizard Harry Reid got all of 4,000 signatures on an Anti-Yucca petition urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not to approve the application for the Department of Energy to begin construction.  If there is as much opposition to Yucca as Reid claims, why so few Johnny Hancocks?

The whole Yucca “controversy” continues to amaze me.  What I’ve found from talking to regular folks is that Yucca really isn’t all that controversial except in the minds of Reid and others who are rabidly against it.  Most people seem to realize that Nevada would draw a HUGE paycheck in exchange for supporting the infrastructure of Yucca.  They are also appreciative of the potential cash boost to our construction industry and the creation of thousands of permanent jobs.

Here’s a little history lesson:

The U.S. Dept. of Energy had its first public meeting in Nevada on Yucca Mountain in 1983.  Don Veith, the Yucca Mountain project manager, presented an overview of the legislation.  The meeting was then opened to public comment.  Governor Richard Bryan stood and announced that he was “unalterably opposed” to the storage of “nuclear waste” in Nevada.  A surrogate for then-Congressman Harry Reid echoed the congressman’s “strong opposition.”  According to those present, most other attendees expressed an opinion along the lines of, “Interesting – maybe there’s something in it for us.”

But via the governor’s office and the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects (created in ’85), the state officially adopted a negative view of Yucca.  And under Director Bob Loux, Yucca has faced two decades of unrelenting criticism and obstruction.

Along the way, several multi-billion dollar offers have been informally made to Nevada by the DOE and/or nuclear industry in exchange for the state’s acceptance of the repository.  At one point, the Reagan administration offered Nevada a multi-billion-dollar nuclear medicine and nuclear science research facility to be associated with UNLV and situated on the Nevada Test Site.  The offer was flatly rejected.

Ladies and gents, spent nuclear fuel is presently stored at temporary sites around the nation.  It is stored safely and without incident.  The nuclear reactors that render efficient electricity are also operated safely and without incident.  For the good of our economy and our nation, we should all take a second look at Yucca.  Please contact me if you would like to get on a Yucca Mountain mailing list and participate in future discussions, forums, panels, and meet-ups.