To: Qqwwe@aol.com
From: "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Re: San Onfore Nuclear Waste Generating Station --SHUT IT DOWN NOW!!
In-Reply-To: <69.2a124816.2a6482bb@aol.com>

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At 12:55 PM 7/15/02 , Qqwwe@aol.com wrote:
I am sorry if I missed this issue, but if the current choice as to EXISTING
nuclear waste is ONLY between: (a) moving it to Yucca Mountain, or (b)
leaving it in myriads of ad hoc storage facilities around the country --
which is the lesser of two evils, and why?  Thank you.
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Hi,

Regarding your letter [shown above], first of all, who made those the only two choices?  And what kind of choices are they?  What is the use of ignoring the waste which will be created starting TODAY -- why only talk about "existing" nuclear waste at all?  Each day, another 10 tons or so of high level radioactive waste is produced, and it cannot be ignored forever.

Because of this new waste, even after shipping the existing waste to Yucca Mountain for 30 years, we'll still have it at nearly all the sites it's currently located at, if we don't shut the plants down too. In fact, we'll have about as much nuclear waste at the sites as they have on site now!  So as a way to get rid of the waste from those sites, Yucca Mountain is a failure.

Also, if we attempt to move it all to Yucca Mountain, there are sure to be accidents, and if the accidents are bad enough, areas of the land will have to be permanently abandoned, so then we'll have even more new sites where the waste will be located -- and we won't have any choice as to where they are, either!  A tunnel in Baltimore?  Possibly The Mississippi River after a truck falls into it when a bridge collapses in Oklahoma?  It could happen.  Wherever the nuke waste happens to be when the terrorists attack it, or something else goes wrong -- THAT'S OUR NEW DUMP.

Also, if we accept Yucca Mountain as a solution, we'll IMMEDIATELY start building more nuke plants, since we'll finally have a "solution" to the waste problem!  Previously closed sites will have new reactors placed at them and they'll reopen.  So, the total number of sites where nuclear waste is located around the country will SKYROCKET if Yucca Mountain is opened!

Also, note that Yucca Mountain has to fit into a very tight financial budget, because waste is waste is waste, and waste (as waste) shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to process.  So the costs of Yucca Mountain are kept extremely low, and a safe job cannot be done at that price.  Because it has to be part of a successful financial activity (running nukes for fun and profit) it can't be done safely.  Of course, it can't be done safely at any price, but CERTAINLY not at this price!

For these and many other reasons, the only logical choice is to shut the plants down.

Sincerely,

Russell Hoffman
Carlsbad, CA