HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

131

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

OPPOSING THE DESIGNATION OF YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA, AS THE NATION'S NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL SITE.

 

 

WHEREAS, the disposal of nuclear waste in a safe and environmentally sound manner is of national, if not global, concern; and

WHEREAS, the United States Secretary of Energy intends to recommend to the President of the United States that the nation's nuclear waste be stored at Yucca Mountain, Nevada; and

WHEREAS, a recent study by the General Accounting Office has raised serious questions as to the wisdom of the Yucca Mountain project; and

WHEREAS, based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's radiation safety levels and scientific evidence regarding the instability of the project area, many believe that Yucca Mountain should not be considered as the nation's nuclear waste disposal site; and

WHEREAS, the shipment of nuclear waste from the thirty-three states that have nuclear facilities to Yucca Mountain is inherently dangerous; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated that 96,000 shipments by truck and rail will take place over the next twenty-four to thirty years; moreover, shipment by truck over our interstate system will pass through large cities such as Atlanta, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, and Denver; and

WHEREAS, existing nuclear waste disposal storage sites are well-protected and secure in comparison to the risks of transporting nuclear material to Yucca Mountain which exposes this hazardous material to accidents and terrorist attacks; and

WHEREAS, the opposition to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository by the people of Nevada, which does not have a nuclear facility, must be determinative in the location of the nation's nuclear waste depository; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, that this body opposes the designation of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the nation's nuclear waste disposal site; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Secretary of Energy is respectfully urged to reconsider recommending Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the site for the nation's nuclear waste depository; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Energy, Hawaii's Congressional delegation, and the Speaker of the Assembly of the State of Nevada.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Nation's Nuclear Waste Disposal Site; Opposition