Patsy T. Mink: “I rise in opposition to S. 1287. The bill poses a serious risk of contaminating our Nation's groundwater with nuclear…”

“I rise in opposition to S. 1287. The bill poses a serious risk of contaminating our Nation's groundwater with nuclear waste. It also would require the Department of Energy to accept nuclear waste for permanent storage before a storage facility was completed. Nuclear waste storage policy needs to reflect science, not politics. It must protect Americans health and the safety of their natural resources. This bill does neither. Under the bill, there would need to be 100,000 shipments of extremely dangerous nuclear waste traveling the roads and highways of 43 States. The threat to drinking water as a result of the use MTBE as a fuel additive underscores the need to proceed carefully in storing nuclear waste. We are learning that migration of chemicals in groundwater is wider and easier than we previously thought. To hurry to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain without fully understanding the risks of groundwater contamination is foolish and dangerous. Currently the standards for Yucca Mountain include no radiation standards whatsoever for groundwater contamination. A recent article in the journal Science concluded that plutonium dioxide, present in nuclear waste, is water soluble. By rushing 77,000 tons of radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain is to reduce the time available to conduct research to assure that groundwater is protected.”