Political Quotes

“we need to understand what this debate is all about, and that is how powerful the nuclear lobby is. We acknowledge that it is pretty strong. They have gotten more out of a worthless piece of legislation than I could ever imagine. They continually are allowed to bring this up and continually talk about it. Mr. President, my friend, the junior Senator from Alaska, said that nuclear waste is all over, that we need to put it in one spot. Nuclear waste is all over, and it will stay all over for years to come no matter what happens with this legislation; no matter what happens with the legislation as it relates to the permanent repository, where my friend is absolutely wrong. Nuclear waste is not in some States. Commercial nuclear waste is not in Nevada. We don't manufacture nuclear waste. It is not in the Dakotas. It is not in Montana and a number of other States. So the statement was a little wrong. Mr. President, this legislation, I repeat, is being driven by the nuclear lobby. As shown in the chart that the junior Senator from Alaska had, there are a number of nuclear generating plants around the country; a little over 100 generating facilities. The average lifespan of those facilities is about 15 years. Some will last 25 years. Some will be out of business in 5 years. The point is that nuclear waste manufactured by power companies generating electricity is in our lifetime going to be a thing of the past. It is not going to happen in the future.”