Sam Gibbons: “today, I come to the well of the House to discuss the risk of storing high-level deadly nuclear waste in a hole in the…”

“today, I come to the well of the House to discuss the risk of storing high-level deadly nuclear waste in a hole in the Nevada desert called Yucca Mountain. Mr. Speaker, this will be the first gelogic repository for high-level nuclear waste. No one can predict what the next 10,000 years will bring at Yucca Mountain, no matter whether we are discussing seismic activity, volcanic activity or meteorological activity. Mr. Speaker, how can we even decide what language to use on the ``no trespassing'' signs that will be pertinent 10,000 years from now? Regardless of what the DOE crystal ball may show, the future is unknown, as is the stability of Yucca Mountain. Even DOE's own scientists question its suitability. No matter how many billions of dollars the DOE has spent on Yucca Mountain, they still cannot make that mountain a geologically-sound repository. Instead, they have to rely on engineered barriers, barriers which could just as easily be used on site, thereby diverting disastrous transportation risks. Mr. Speaker, the Yucca Mountain project is fatally flawed; and no amount of money, nor square pegs in a round hole, can keep Nevadans and Americans safe from its failings.”