Yes, high-level nuclear waste from Shearon Harris may move to Yucca Mountain, but it will be at least 10 years before spent fuel rods head west. With lawsuits looming and Nevadans vowing civil disobedience to stop transports, the battle over Yucca is far from over.
The Senate vote on Yucca Mountain solely benefits wealthy, corporate utilities such as Carolina Power & Light. Utilities are the only advocates for the dump; Yucca will fill, and there will be as much waste at reactors around the nation as there is now. Your article (July 18) ignored the national citizen's campaign opposing the $58 billion project. In promoting Yucca, the nuclear industry argues that the radioactive spent fuel rods are not safe where they are, confirming our call for a shift from vulnerable, high-density cooling pools to hardened, dry cask storage.
CP&L's nuclear waste shipments are controversial. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires no physical tests of nuclear waste transport casks, and the spent nuclear fuel rods within could kill a person within minutes of direct exposure. The nuclear industry continually claims that the public is not at risk from their operations; excluding the voice of environmental organizations who disagree is sloppy journalism. Regardless of whether Yucca opens, CP&L must reduce risks to North Carolinians by ending the transport of this deadly material across our state.
Nora Wilson
North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network
