[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 101 (Thursday, July 19, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S7939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             NUCLEAR WASTE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I hope everyone recognizes the tremendous 
tragedy we sadly heard of yesterday in Baltimore. A train derailed in a 
tunnel. The fire is still burning. The hydrochloric acid is still 
leaking from that tank. Last night, the city of Baltimore, one of the 
largest cities in America, was closed down. The Baltimore Orioles were 
in the middle of a doubleheader. They stopped the game and sent 
everybody home.
  The reason I mention this is there has been a mad clamor about the 
nuclear power industry and shipping nuclear waste. The nuclear industry 
doesn't care where it goes, although they are focused on Nevada for the 
present time. I think everyone needs to recognize that transporting 
hazardous materials is very difficult. If people think hydrochloric 
acid is bad--which it is--think about how bad nuclear waste is. A speck 
the size of a pinpoint would kill a person. We are talking about 
transporting some 70,000 tons of it all across America.
  I hope before everybody starts flexing their muscles about the 
reestablishment of nuclear power in this country that we recognize 
first there has to be something done with the dangerous waste 
associated with nuclear power.
  It is estimated that some 60 million people live within a mile of the 
routes that may be proposed for transporting this nuclear waste by 
train or truck. Not to mention the problems related to terrorism, which 
we have discussed at some length on this floor in previous debates.
  We should leave nuclear waste where it is. Eminent scientists say it 
is safe. It could be stored onsite in storage containers for a fraction 
of the cost of a permanent repository. It would be much less dangerous. 
It could be stored relatively safely for 100 years, the scientists say. 
During that period of time, we might develop a breakthrough idea as to 
what could be done safely with these spent fuel rods.

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