Political Quotes

“the advent of nuclear power more than 50 years ago brought with it both great promise and great responsibility. Our ability to harness the power of the atom has paid substantial dividends for our society, but it has also left us with the formidable challenge of safely storing the byproducts of nuclear power generation. This is a challenge our Nation must meet so that future generations are not endangered by today's nuclear waste. Presently, all of the spent fuel from nuclear power plants and research reactors throughout the country remains on-site at each reactor. None of these facilities was designed to safely store that waste on a permanent basis, and leaving spent fuel in temporary storage around the Nation poses both a security threat and an environmental hazard. In Illinois, nearly half of our electricity is generated from nuclear power. Our State contains seven nuclear powerplants, two nuclear research reactors, and more commercial nuclear waste than any other State. We need to find a safe and permanent way to store this material, and such a storage site has been proposed at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.”