Anonymous Letter on the Issue of Nuclear Waste
Anonymous Letter on the Issue of Nuclear Waste
Dear U.S. Citizen,
Hello my name is ____________; I am a student at __________________. I am writing this letter in hope that I will cast some light on a very important decision that will affect you and your family.
There is a bill in Congress right now that, if passed, will allow for nuclear waste to be transported through forty-three states, endangering most of the U.S. population, on its way to a general holding facility in Yucca Mountain located in Nevada.
The government needed to find a place to store the nation’s nuclear waste. They chose the Yucca Mountain because it is not too close to human population. This site would be safer then what is being done with the waste now. Currently the waste is kept stuffed in small “garage style’’ buildings, which are quickly becoming overrun.
With one hundred ten nuclear power reactors in seventy communities in the U.S., it’s no wonder that nuclear waste is building up at such and extreme rate. In order to deal with the build up, the government decided to dump the nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. This site was chosen, not because the government thought that it was the best site in America to store it’s deadly waste, but because Nevada was so politically weak in the late eighties (when they decided to start the program) that it was easy for the federal government to force this decision on Nevada. If Congress passes this bill they will start shipping out huge quantities of nuclear waste. The shipments will be carried on trucks, trains, and barges.
According to a spokesperson from the Department of Transportation, the shipments have to take the most direct Interstate routes, even if they have to go through large cities. Meaning if there were to be an accident it could wipe out the population of a huge city.
According to a study that the American Petroleum Institute performed, heavy truck accidents occur about six times for every million miles traveled, which means about fifteen accidents a year will be expected. With this many accidents you would think the waste would be transported in very safe containers, they’re not.
The containers that will be used for transportation are unsafe. First of all they are old, they...