Sam Gibbons: “yesterday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission joined the Department of Energy in what appears to be a collusion to ignore…”

“yesterday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission joined the Department of Energy in what appears to be a collusion to ignore public safety. An NRC statement said that it believes that the Department of Energy has done all the work necessary for approval to license Yucca Mountain. Earlier this week, the Yucca project chief for the DOE said that the analysis for terrorist threats would not, I repeat, would not, be included in a final report to the Secretary of Energy. Well, Mr. Speaker, the last time I checked, we were at war with terrorism; and it seems to me that a giant mountain filled with 77,000 tons of nuclear material located near Las Vegas, Nevada, makes an unfortunate, yet attractive, target for these evil terrorists. It is simply reckless and irresponsible for the DOE and the NRC to ignore the threat of terrorism. It is obvious that the DOE and NRC are on a mission to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain at any price. Unfortunately, that price may be the safety of the American people.”