Sam Gibbons: “I would like to address this Chamber as well as all America on an issue that is extremely important to all of us, and…”

“I would like to address this Chamber as well as all America on an issue that is extremely important to all of us, and that is the issue of nuclear waste. In a recent advertisement, in fact, an advertisement paid for by the nuclear energy lobbyists, it appeared in the Congressional Daily, dated September 22, 1997, and I quote, ``Thanks to nuclear energy, the air in Maine and New Hampshire is cleaner.'' The ad goes on to say, ``Since nuclear powerplants don't burn anything to generate electricity, they do not pollute the air.'' Well, Mr. Speaker, if nuclear energy is as environmentally safe an energy source as they claim it to be, then why do they not store the wastes associated with those nuclear energy plants in their own States? Why not keep that nuclear waste safely stored at nuclear powerplants throughout the country, as this claim advertises, and let me say, generating electricity with nuclear energy produces a small amount of used nuclear fuel. Today this used fuel is safely stored at 109 nuclear powerplants throughout the country. The headline, Mr. Speaker, should read, ``Thanks to nuclear energy, innocent people all across this country will be put at risk as 80,000 tons or more of nuclear waste is transported through their communities.'' Mr. Speaker, the American people should say thanks, but no thanks.”