Yucca redux

Support for reviving the proposed dump in Nye County for high level nuclear wastes is becoming more visible.

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, whose state of Illinois relies more than any other on nuclear power—it gets 48 percent of its electricity from nuclear plants—will be touring the proposed site at Yucca Mountain on April 9. He will be joined by Reps. Cresent Hardy and Mark Amodei of Nevada, both of whom are regarded as soft on the dump.

Other officials who are boosting the dump include Assemblymember James Oscarson and Nye County Commissioner Dan Schinhofen. All five are Republicans.

Among other federal legislators who are trying to dump waste in Nevada (no nuclear power) are Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California (which has two nuclear power plants), Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington (one nuclear power plant and the Hanford nuclear reservation) and Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee (three nuclear power plants) and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska (one nuclear power plant planned).

Nye County officials support the project because of the economic activity and growth it will bring.

Once-vigorous resistance to the dump seems moribund. The organization Citizen Alert, which once led the opposition, no longer exists.