And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Source: <A HREF="http://www.industrywatch.com/story/19990317/12/56/2986098_st.html"> http://www.industrywatch.com/story/19990317/12/56/2986098_st.html</A> ======================================================== NUKE WASTE ON THE PLAINS THE ISSUE: ROCKY FLATS TO STORE WASTE IN TENTS; OUR VIEW: IT'S OUTRAGEOUS, BUT THEN SO ARE THE OTHER OPTIONS Denver Rocky Mountain News Question 1: Should Rocky Flats store nuclear waste in outdoor tents, as officials at the defunct weapons plant plan to do beginning this summer? Don't be silly. Question 2: Should the cleanup at Rocky Flats be halted while officials wait until the nuclear waste can be shipped to a burial site in New Mexico? Don't be silly. Question 3: Should Rocky Flats begin to build a permanent storage site to accommodate the growing amount of waste that lacks a final home? Don't be silly. Question 4: How can those answers be reconciled? They can't be. We make no bones about it: There is no fully rational course of action regarding the growing storage problem at Rocky Flats. Virtually no one wants permanent storage of nuclear material at Rocky Flats. Yet there is, without doubt, something positively bizarre about the idea of storing nuclear waste even for in relatively short term in tents, which do a poor enough job as it is sheltering Boy Scouts, infantrymen and sodden campers. The Flats' tents, to be sure, would be reinforced to withstand winds of more than 100 mph, and the steel cylinders inside aren't likely to burst under anything short of a direct hit by jet. Still, is this really what the Flats cleanup has been about: a process aimed at building a "mountain of waste" on the open plains, in the words of Mary Harlow, Rocky Flats coordinator for the city of Westminster? Clearly not. >From the outset of the cleanup, however, it has been clear that the schedule could be jeopardized or the project distorted if the sites where waste from Rocky Flats is supposed to go failed to open on time. And, of course, a very critical site is not opening on time. For that matter, some folk hope it never does, and have deployed one lawsuit after another in pursuit of that goal. Not only is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M., which would store low level- waste in a salt bed 2,100 feet underground, opposed by some environmentalists, it faces state opposition as well. How could it be, that on the eve of the 21st century, the federal government has still not managed to open a WIPP-like facility? It is an enduring scandal, not to mention an indictment of this nation's entire nuclear energy program. Which brings us to Question 5: Will the government be able to resolve this mess any time soon? Don't be silly. ======================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like orange and blue, then you will love our new web site! http://www.onelist.com Onelist: Fostering connections and information exchange ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOEWatch List --- Subscribe online: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/doewatch"We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesized in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we think we have found the way to cause the disintegration of the atom." -Quote from Truman's diary July 25, 45 after Pottsdam and the "baby was born"""The Doctor of the future will give No Medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."."-Attributed to Thomas Alva Edisonn"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"t"-George Orwell &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
