Dianne Feinstein's response on Yucca Mountain [View All]

[CAcyclist]

Dear Ms. Weber:

Thank you for contacting me about the
development of a nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca
Mountain. Your interest and involvement are important
to me, and I welcome the opportunity to respond to your
concerns.

Currently, 77,000 tons of high level nuclear waste,
generated by power reactors and nuclear weapons
production, are stored in temporary surface storage
facilities located at 131 sites in 39 States. This year,
President Bush approved the Secretary of Energy's
recommendation of Yucca Mountain as the nation's first
long term underground repository for high level
radioactive waste.

I oppose the development of the site because it
would involve transporting high-level nuclear waste
through populated areas of California and I am concerned
about the safety of this process. I am also concerned that
the site lies adjacent to Death Valley National Park and
any leakage from the Yucca Mountain site could
contaminate Death Valley=s groundwater. As I
understand it, the site=s capacity is inadequate and there
could be enough nuclear waste in the U.S. to fill the
entire site by 2010.

We must find a viable, environmentally sound,
long term solution to our nation=s nuclear waste problem.
I believe it would be a mistake to bring all of our nation=s
nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Instead of a single
repository, it would be better to develop regional nuclear
waste permanent storage facilities which would increase
overall storage capacity and reduce transportation risks.

Unfortunately, the Senate approved the Yucca
Mountain site by a vote of 60 to 39. I hope the
department of energy will take into consideration the
numerous concerns that I have expressed about Yucca
Mountain site and I will certainly monitor the
development of the site very closely.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope you will
continue to keep me informed of issues of importance to
you. If you have any further questions or comments,
please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C.
office at [phone].

Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

http://feinstein.senate.gov

Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the
Nation are available at my website http://feinstein.senate.gov. You can also
receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing to my e-mail list at
http://feinstein.senate.gov/issue.html.