Harry Reid: “In short, this legislation is bad. The technical experts say it is bad. There is no technical or safety reason to move…”

“In short, this legislation is bad. The technical experts say it is bad. There is no technical or safety reason to move spent nuclear fuel. It is before us for one simple reason, and that is the power of the nuclear utilities. The motive of the nuclear utilities is more money. We have already established the huge profits they make. I compared their 17 percent average profit to what I learned in a case that I handled against Safeway Stores. They make a little over 1 percent on their volume. The nuclear utilities make 17 percent. This legislation is here, it is motivated by money, and they want more money. Their greed is endangering the American public, our fragile environment and the Nation's policy to develop a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. This bill, S. 104, is antienvironmental. The bill is opposed by every environmental group in America, as I have stated several times. This bill is a disaster for the environment. The public opposes this legislation because they see the facade of S. 104's hysterical claims of crisis for onsite storage. This is not true. The real motivation, we have established, is money. The best option is to leave it on site, right where it is today, Mr. President. We would save billions of dollars, and it would be safe. Everyone should be outraged by this legislation.”