Posted on 08/20/2004 5:20:24 PM PDT by RWR8189
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Rhetoric |
NARRATOR: “It’s coming to Nevada. Radioactive waste headed for Yucca Mountain. Why? Because in 2000, George Bush misled Nevada. That’s right. After promising Governor Guinn he would veto legislation making Yucca Mountain a nuclear dump, George Bush personally approved the disposal of radioactive waste in Nevada. John Kerry’s fighting to stop Yucca Mountain. Moveon.org Voter Fund is responsible for the contest of this advertising.”
CHYRON: “Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, 9/30/2000; “Dear Kenny, I would veto legislation …”; Kerry Stop Yucca Mountain; Moveon.org Voter Fund is responsible for the content of this advertising; Paid for by Moveon.org Voter Fund. (www.moveonvoterfund.org); Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”
VISUALS: “Truck with radiation warning sign; Yucca Mountain; President Bush; President Bush signing legislation; Workers; John Kerry”
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The Facts |
The “Screw Nevada” Bill Cancelled Studies At Two Other Sites And Declared That Yucca Would Be The Site For Nuclear Waste, Unless Scientific Studies Said Otherwise. (Alex Kaplun, “Yucca May Be A Factor For Small Number Of Undecided Voters –Experts,” Greenwire, 7/29/04)
Kerry Voted For “Screw Nevada” Bill, Which Was Added To Budget Reconciliation Bill And Signed Into Law. (H.R. 3545, CQ Vote # 419: Adopted 61-28: R 18-23; D 43-5, 12/21/87, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid and Hecht Voted Nay)
University Of Nevada Political Scientist Said “When Push Came To Shove” Kerry “Voted For The ‘Screw Nevada’ Bill.” “‘That [amendment] put Yucca Mountain on an entirely different kind of tract than it was before,’ [Eric] Herzik said. ‘The bottom line is when push came to shove, he voted for the ‘Screw Nevada’ bill.’” (Alex Kaplun, “Yucca May Be A Factor For Small Number Of Undecided Voters –Experts,” Greenwire, 7/29/04)
Kerry Wrote Letter To Then Senator Frank Murkowski Asking For Expedited Waste Handling To Yucca Mountain. “Along with three other Northeast Senators, John Kerry also wrote me a letter in 1999 when I was serving as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, asking that nuclear waste from Massachusetts be given priority shipment to ‘a centralized, permanent facility.’ At the time, everyone knew, as they do today, that the only ‘centralized, permanent facility’ in question was Yucca Mountain. John Kerry’s message with this letter was clear; get nuclear waste out of my state now, and send it to Nevada.” (Bush-Cheney ’04, “Statement By Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski,” Press Release, 8/12/04)
In Addition To The “Screw Nevada” Vote, Kerry Has Voted Six Times Against Senator Reid (D-NV) And Nevada, And For Yucca Mountain:
1) 1987: Kerry Voted For “Code Language” Virtually Guaranteeing Yucca As Site Of Nuclear Waste Depository. “The Senate … approved legislation that would require selection of a preferred site for the nation’s first permanent nuclear waste dump by January 1989 … Senators voted 86-9 to adopt the measure … Opponents also charged the legislation contained ‘code language’ – restrictive provisions – that would virtually guarantee the selection of Yucca Mountain, Nev., over the two other finalist sites at Hanford, Wash., and Deaf Smith County, Texas. The legislation, attached to a $15.9 billion spending bill for 1988 energy and water resources programs …” (H.R. 2700, CQ Vote #383: Passed 86-9: R 40-5; D 46-4, 11/18/87, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid and Hecht Voted Nay; George Lobsenz, “Senate Approves Speed-Up In Nuclear Waste Program,” United Press International, 11/18/87)
2) 1988: Kerry Voted Against Increased Oversight Funds For Nevada. Kerry voted to affirm the decision of the chair that the Reid (D-NV) amendment to raise from $11 million to $18 million the amount of funds going to Nevada for oversight of the site selection of a permanent nuclear waste repository was not in order. The chair ruled that Reid was trying to legislate on an appropriations bill and a vote to affirm the chair’s ruling was a vote against Reid and in favor of Yucca Mountain. (H.R. 4567, CQ Vote #180: Upheld 68-29: R 39-7; D 29-22, 6/14/88, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid Voted Nay)
3) 1995: Kerry Voted Against Amendment That Would Divert Money Away From Yucca Mountain. The vote was to table, or put aside, an amendment offered by Sens. Reid and Bryan (D-NV) that would have transferred money from Yucca to a drug abuse block grant program. A “Yea” vote was against Reid and Bryan. (H.R. 1158, CQ Vote #125: Agreed To 77-17: R 51-0; D 26-17, 3/30/95, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid Voted Nay)
4) 1996: Kerry Voted For Radiation Standards Opposed By Nevada. “In 1996, he voted in favor of radiation standards opposed by Nevada …” (Erin Neff, “Nevada Captures Attention,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/28/04; S. 1936, CQ Vote #256: Adopted 86-12: R 52-0; D 34-12, 7/31/96, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid Voted Nay)
5) 1996: Kerry Voted To Table Amendment That Would Require Integrated Management System For Accepting, Transporting, Storing And Disposing Of Spent Nuclear Fuel To Comply With All Federal Laws And Regulations. (S. 1936, CQ Vote #258: Motion Agreed To 73-27: R 52-1; D 21-26, 7/31/96, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid Voted Nay)
6) 1997: Kerry Voted To Kill Reid Amendment That Would Have Required A State’s Governor To Give Prior Written Consent Before Nuclear Waste Could Be Transported Through The State. (S. 104, CQ Vote #36: Motion Agreed To 72-24: R 52-2; D 20-22, 4/10/97, Kerry Voted Yea, Reid Voted Nay)
Nevada Political Commentator Jon Ralston Said “Kerry Supported The Worst Bill In The History Of The Yucca Mountain Fight.” “Kerry supported the worst bill in the history of the Yucca Mountain fight and only recently has seen the light – and, coincidentally, he has been stronger in his rhetoric as his campaign for president has come to the fore and as he has begged for Nevada votes. The Democrats can point all they want to Bush’s prevaricating, which is a legitimate issue, but they can’t get away from the fact that they either were ignorant of Kerry’s voting record (not good) or misled everyone about it (even worse).” (Jon Ralston, “It Depends On What The Meaning Of The Word ‘Pristine’ Is:” Ralston Report, 7/27/04)
Harry Reid Called The “Screw Nevada” Bill “An Act Of Naked And Unprovoked Aggression.” “‘What is proposed is an act of naked and unprovoked aggression by the people of several states against a state which is smaller and has less power, the state of Nevada,’ said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.” (Ed Vogel, “Innocence Lost,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/10/02)
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Then-Gov. Bush Promised Veto Of Temporary Storage At Yucca, Said He Would Wait For Scientific Approval. “As I’ve said before, I believe the best science must prevail in the designation of any high-level nuclear waste repository. As President, I would not sign legislation that would send nuclear waste to any proposed site – either on a permanent or temporary basis – unless it has been deemed scientifically safe. The Department of Energy has not completed its impact study of Yucca Mountain and important questions of environmental protection and safety have not yet been answered. Therefore, I would veto legislation that would provide for the temporary storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.” (“Bush Letter To Gov. Guinn,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 9/30/00)
Energy Department Deemed Yucca Mountain Safe For Repository Site. “The President today notified the Congress that he considers Yucca Mountain qualified for a construction permit application, taking the next in a series of steps required for approving the site as a nuclear materials repository. The President’s decision to recommend Yucca Mountain is based on sound science. It follows decades of scientific study and a determination by the Secretary of Energy that the site can be safely used to store these materials.” (The White House, “Yucca Mountain Statement,” Press Release, 2/15/02)
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Congress Ordered Yucca Mountain Site In 1987
Yucca Mountain Ranked Top Repository Site. “[A] 1986 comparison and ranking of the nine sites then under consideration for characterization, led the DOE to conclude that Yucca Mountain ranked at the top of all sites studied.” (Department Of Energy Website, “Why Yucca Mountain; Frequently Asked Questions,” www.ocrwm.doe.gov, Accessed 4/12/04)
Congress Selected Yucca Mountain In 1987 For Repository. “Pursuant to the NWPA amendments of 1987, Congress selected the Yucca Mountain Site in Nevada as the single site to be characterized by DOE for long-term geologic disposal of the nation’s high-level radioactive waste inventories.” (House Committee On Energy And Commerce, “Approval Of Yucca Mountain Site,” House Report 107-425, 5/1/02)
Yucca Mountain Is Located In The Nevada Desert, Isolated From Population Centers And On Federal Property Controlled By The Military. (Department Of Energy Website, “Why Yucca Mountain; Frequently Asked Questions,” www.ocrwm.doe.gov, Accessed 4/12/04)
Yucca Mountain Has Five Key Attributes Important To Long-Term Performance:
ü Limited Water Entering Emplacement Tunnels. Yucca Mountain averages only 7.5 inches of rain per year and nearly all of it does not infilitrate the surface. The alternating layers of welded and non-welded tuff would allow “little water that does seep into a tunnel to run down its side walls – and not drip on waste packages.”
ü Long-Lived Waste Package And Drip Shield. The waste packages are “very corrosion-resistant” and “about 1 percent of the waste packages are projected to lose some of their integrity during the first 80,000 years.”
ü Limited Release Of Radionuclides From The Engineered Barriers. DOE computer simulations show that “[i]f water were to penetrate a breached wasate package, several characteristics of the waste forms and the repository would limit radionuclide releases.”
ü Delay And Dilution Of Radionuclide Concentrations By The Natural Barriers. “Yucca Mountain is located in a closed hydrologic basin. … Water in this basin does not flow into any rivers or oceans, and is iolated from the acquifer systems of Las Vegas and Pahrump, the largest community in Nye County.”
ü Low Likelihood Of Potentially Disruptive Events. Of the “three specific disruptive processes and events (i.e. volcanism, seismic events, and nuclear criticality” studied by DOE, only “volcanism resulted in a low but calcuable dose when considering the remote probability of a volcanic disruption.” However, the likelihood of a volcano disrupting Yucca Mountain is “about 1 in 70 million, or a chance of .0000014 percent, per year). (Department Of Energy Website, “Why Yucca Mountain; Frequently Asked Questions,” www.ocrwm.doe.gov, Accessed 4/12/04)
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Massachusetts would be a great place to store nuclear waste. The people living there are so dense, their bodies have more-than-normal protection against neutrons.
> Massachusetts would be a great place to store nuclear waste.
And with no Yucca, that's what happens.
With any luck, nuke waste storage is a temporary problem.
If space elevators can be made practical, hazmats will be
disposed of by sending them up, and releasing them at a
time of day that drops them into the sun.
So they Dowd-ified Bush's quote, completely changing the context and making the moveon ad a LIE!!!
And by the way, what were the other sites under consideration and have those communities come to grips with the fact that Kerry wants to put them back into play? I'd like to see some polling on that move by the senator from France.
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