Vol. 2, No. 12
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Apr. 15, 2005
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CRIMINAL DEFENSE |
COPYWRITING
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Yucca Mountain Project Collapsing On Itself
Nevada Arguments Shedding Light On Lies, Bad Science
by Johnny Gunn
The halls of congress have been flooded with Silver State politicians this past couple of weeks, and for many, they were being listened to for the first time in the dispute over the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository. Touted as being filled with the finest science, the Department of Energy (DOE) has enough pie on its face to feed a small nation. According to congressional testimony, DOE scientists have been lying through their combined teeth for years over the safety of the underground facility.
At the heart of the matter of safety is how the water table under and around the facility ebbs and flows and how that water would affect the casks of volatile nuclear waste. In recent court decisions, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has been called on the carpet for being willing to say the casks should only be safe for 10,000 years. Nuclear scientists testified the waste would have a half life of closer to 200,000 years, and the court then demanded the EPA change its rules.
Now it's been discovered that some scientists attached to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been allegedly falsifying information used to determine that water movement. If natural flows of underground water break down the walls of the casks at some point in our future, then the deadliest radiation known to man would flood the very water that would be pumped for human consumption
When the EPA said they were sure the casks would hold up under water infiltration for at least 10,000 years, they were using what might be falsified information provided by Joe Hevesi, Alan Flint, and Lorraine Flint at the USGS. To make matters worse, the President of the United States made his decision to continue the Yucca project based on alleged lies provided by these scientists.
In prepared remarks before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization, Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn said," Less than a month after my election as Nevada's governor, but before I was into office, I co-authored a letter with then governor Bob Miller to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson urging that Yucca Mountain be immediately disqualified as a repository site, citing strong and compelling scientific evidence indicating the site was incapable of safely isolating deadly radioactive waste. One of the main points raised in that was, ironically, the existence of very rapid groundwater pathways and evidence showing that rapid water movement through the site would expedite the corrosion of waste disposal containers underground at Yucca Mountain and very quickly transport radioactive materials to aquifer and from there to water sources used by people and communities."
Nevada Congressman Jon Porter (R) is chairman of the subcommittee named to investigate the problems at the project. Porter is incensed that the Interior Department will not allow the three USGS scientists accused of falsifying or giving false information by way of e-mails to testify before his panel. He said he would rather not use his subpoena powers, but it would be a last resort.
Nevada Senator John Ensign (R) said about the falsified e-mails sent by the USGS scientists, "The fact that the alleged fraud deals with the issue of water infiltration is critical because it impacts the corrosion of casks and the containment of radioactivity."
Ensign went on to say, "The corrosion of casks and the containment of radioactivity are frightening realities that Nevadans and all Americans face should this project proceed based on fraudulent science." He alluded to the fact that what is taking place might make for good science fiction but not for reality.
Governor Guinn also pointed out that "DOE officials are seeking to minimize the importance" of the allegedly fraudulent e-mails. As we go to press, those e-mails have not been released in their entirety. The governor pointed out that "DOE has refused to make the materials available." Instead, he says, "DOE has been seeking to downplay" the evidence. He asks, "Why has DOE not made the evidence available" if it is just a paperwork mistake?
Nevada Congressman Jim Gibbons (R) is in a unique position regarding the Yucca Mountain project. Gibbons is a geologist, the only one serving in Congress. Speaking at Porter's congressional hearing Gibbons said, "Throughout these correspondences, these government employees show a reckless disregard for quality control and assurance." He said it proves his point that DOE will do anything to open Yucca Mountain.
Gibbons went on to say that what disturbs him most is a disregard for real science. "It seems clear to me," he testified," that not only is the science with regards to this project compromised, but I fear the greater problem is the atmosphere of pushing forward -- no matter what the evidence says." He says there has been a blatant disregard for public safety.
The aquifer under Yucca Mountain is extensive as most are. As an example, potential federal lawsuits are pending because of an attempt by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pump water from White Pine County south to Las Vegas Valley. Authorities in Utah claim the aquifer that might be pumped is so extensive it also provides ranching water for many in Utah. Imagine underground water moving about under several states, under large population centers, laced with high grade nuclear waste.
The storage facility if built and licensed would store the deadliest radiation waste from nuclear power plants across America. At this time that waste is stored on site, DOE is continuing to license more nuclear plants, and there has been talk of importing high level radiation waste from Asia and other world locations for storage at Yucca Mountain.
The viability of the casks to maintain an absolute integrity for 10,000 years has been in doubt from the beginning of the project, and the possibility of building a cask that could hold high level nuclear waste for 200,000 years or more is difficult to comprehend at best.
In European, Asian, and other areas where nuclear power plants exist, the waste by law is stored at the site. In this country the nuclear power plants are not government owned but the government is required to control the high level waste, thus a single location, Yucca Mountain, has been designated the repository.
Nevada officials have fought the project almost from the beginning, in particular the lack of "good science" used in guiding the construction of the project.
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