LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Nevada's remote Yucca Mountain on Thursday was named as the federal government's top nuclear waste site choice.
Democratic lawmakers and Nevada's congressional delegation immediately criticized the choice, even though it had been expected.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., called the decision "unfortunate and premature" and urged the Bush administration to hold off until roughly 300 scientific studies could be completed.
"Before anyone starts shipping hundreds of tons of radioactive waste across America's highways and railways, the government needs to make sure it is taking the safest, wisest course," Daschle said in a statement. "There is no way anyone can know that today. The safety of the American people, not political pressure from the energy industry, should be the overriding concern."
The energy industry has long pushed for a better means of disposing radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants. It is currently stashed at more than 130 temporary sites scattered across 39 states.
Not having an outlet for spent fuel, some warn, could force some existing nuclear plants to eventually shut down.
"A repository is important to our energy security," U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a letter to Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn. "We must ensure that nuclear power, which provides 20 percent of the nation's electric power, remains an important part of our domestic energy production."
Abraham's recommendation will go to the White House within 30 days for Bush's approval.
Proponents of the single-site plan say something must be done with growing amounts of nuclear materials before they become an environmental disaster. Nuclear waste could also become a potential terrorist target, proponents say.
"We should consolidate the nuclear wastes to enhance protection against terrorist attacks by moving them to one underground location that is far from population centers," Abraham said.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., a supporter, said it's time to move the project beyond the study phase and "get something back on the billions of dollars invested over the years."
Critics, including environmentalists and Nevada lawmakers, cringe at the possibility that potentially deadly radioactive refuse could be regularly moving along the state's highways and railroads.
Yucca Mountain is considered a promising location for nuclear waste because of its remote location northwest of Las Vegas, its desert climate and its hard volcanic rock composition.
(Reported by Hil Anderson, UPI chief energy correspondent.)
