For Immediate Release:
May 8, 2002

Contact:
Zack Roth, 202-675-6279

     Dangerous Nuclear Waste Dump Plan Heads for Senate Showdown

Washington, DC:  The Sierra Club today applauded the 117 members of the
House of Representatives who stood up for public health and the environment
by voting against a dangerous proposal to store nuclear waste at Nevada's
Yucca Mountain.  Though the measure passed the House, it now faces greater
opposition in the Senate.

"These lawmakers had the courage to put the health and safety of current
and future gnerations ahead of short-term political expediency," said Carl
Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.  "Every day, we learn more
about the grave threat to public health and the environment that this
unsound scheme poses.  Americans don't want convoys of nuclear waste on
their roads and rails."

The plan, which is being backed by the powerful nuclear industry, calls for
thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste to be transported
across the country on trucks, trains, and barges.  It would then be dumped
at Yucca Mountain, just ninety miles from Las Vegas, America's fastest
growing city.

100,000 shipments of nuclear waste would be made over the next 31 years,
making accidents all but certain.  Millions of Americans would be
needlessly threatened with exposure to highly radioactive material in the
event of an accident or terrorist attack.  The choice of Yucca Mountain
itself rests on shaky science - the mountain leaks, meaning that nuclear
waste could seep into the groundwater, jeopardizing the health of hundreds
of thousands of local residents.

Nevada Governor Kenny Quinn vetoed the proposal a month ago, sending the
issue to Congress.  Now both Houses must vote to over-ride Governor Guinn's
veto if the plan is to go forward.  The Senate is expected to take up the
issue in June.

A broad coalition of environmental, public interest, and taxpayer groups
has joined with the state of Nevada and a growing number of elected
officials from Washington state to Massachusetts in opposing the plan.


"The Yucca Mountain proposal would set in motion a high-stakes game of
nuclear Russian roulette," continued Pope.  "The plan puts the wishes of
the nuclear industry ahead of the health and safety of ordinary Americans."


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Erin Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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