Harry Reid: “I have been sparing in my comments the last several months about the Yucca Mountain situation. Everyone acknowledges…”

“I have been sparing in my comments the last several months about the Yucca Mountain situation. Everyone acknowledges that a Republican will bring this up in the next several weeks. We have had a series of people coming to the floor talking about nuclear waste. The Republican leader talked about it today. We have had Senator Craig and Senator Murkowski speak about it several times this week. My colleague from Alaska, for example, this morning discussed the issue of nuclear waste and transportation. I can remember Senator Bryan and I, when we had the pleasure of serving together in the Senate, traveled to St. Louis. The whole purpose of our trip was to meet with local officials about the transportation of nuclear waste. We did. We went to the governing body of St. Louis. We talked to them. We had a very nice visit. We visited an editorial board. We were on a radio station or two there. As a result, the people who run the city of St. Louis passed a resolution saying: We don't want nuclear waste transported through St. Louis. If you can explain the issue to people, they recognize quickly it is not a good idea. So that is why I want to respond to some of the points raised by my friend from Alaska. He discussed, for example, the shipments of waste to the WIPP facility, the waste isolation project in New Mexico. Comparing those shipments to the proposed spent fuel shipment at Yucca is like comparing a squirt gun to the most modern tank in America.”