[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H1626]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    STOP YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT NOW

  (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, for the last 20 years the Nevada 
delegation, Republican and Democrat, have fought to keep the Yucca 
Mountain Project from becoming a reality.
  What is the Yucca Mountain Project? 77,000 tons of toxic nuclear 
waste being transported across 43 States to be buried in a hole in the 
Nevada desert where we have groundwater issues, seismic activity, and 
volcanic activity.
  The President when he approved this said that his decision was based 
on sound science. Sound science? There were 294 unresolved scientific 
and technical issues.
  There is no canister that can safely store this radioactive waste, 
and we have a court decision that says that rather than a 10,000-year 
standard for radiation there should be a 300,000-year standard for 
radiation.
  Now, as of yesterday, the new Secretary of Energy has come forward 
and disclosed that the scientific documentation for Yucca Mountain has 
been falsified. It is about time that the rest of the country knew what 
the Nevada delegation knows and has been saying for 20 years. This is 
not based on sound science. It is based on sound politics.
  I have urged the Secretary of Energy to appoint an independent body 
to investigate the science. We know now it has been falsified. It is 
wrong. This is a bad project and I urge the President to rescind his 
order to Yucca Mountain and stop this project now.

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