Political Quotes

“I would like to correct a few misconceptions that I have heard during this debate. First of all, the American people were never asked to build nuclear powerplants. The industry made the decision to go ahead. There was never a vote on it by the American people. The industry decided to build nuclear powerplants. When the nuclear power plants were built, there were no plans by the industry at that time to talk about how the waste would be dealt with. There are myths about the disposal of nuclear waste. First of all, we cannot dispose of nuclear waste. It lasts for thousands and thousands of years, something the gentleman from Massachusetts pointed out. I would like to add that we cannot move it either, because once it is on a site, that site is contaminated. We cannot transport it out of anywhere. Nuclear power sites essentially are scorched Earth. That land will never be used again for anything. Right now there are nearly 109 nuclear dump sites in America. When the waste is moved to Yucca Mountain, there will be 110 contaminated sites, not 109 less. When it will be moved from Yucca Mountain, then there will be 111 contaminated sites. Nuclear power promised power too cheap to meter. It delivered electricity too expensive to use. It promised safe electricity. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl put the lie to that. The nuclear power industry has caused utility rates to go up across this country.”