[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            OPPOSE H.R. 45, NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1999

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, the month of January of this year has 
already come and gone. In just that one month, there have been seven 
major earthquakes in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This is a site where this 
city's powerful nuclear waste lobbyists want to bury their nuclear 
waste.
  This should not be a surprise, however, because Yucca Mountain, you 
see, is a mountain. It is not geologically stable. In fact, it is a 
mountain that is tectonically active.
  Jerry Szymanski, a former Department of Energy geologist, said 
seismic design for a facility to transfer nuclear waste canisters above 
ground at Yucca Mountain is not possible there. He said, with 32 faults 
in the area, the mountain is capable of a magnitude 8.5, folks, 
earthquake, and poses too many risks and variables to design seismic 
standards.
  Realize that one does not store nuclear waste in an area that ranks 
third in the country for seismic activity, an area that has more than 
621 earthquakes in the past 20 years, and an area that had seven 
earthquakes in less than 30 days.
  Oppose H.R. 45, my colleagues. This could weigh heavily on my 
colleagues' souls.




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