State Legislature endorses Arizona as dumping ground for nuclear waste: Safford area one ...

[Ptah]

State Legislature endorses Arizona as dumping ground for nuclear waste: Safford area one of five potential locations

http://www.eacourier.com/news/state-legislature-endorses-arizona-as-dumping-ground-for-nuclear-waste/article_99a59b20-96ef-11e1-aef2-0019bb2963f4.html

If the Republican-controlled Arizona State Legislature has its way, the state
could become the nation's dumping ground for nuclear waste.

<snip>

Recently, District 26 Arizona State Senator Al Melvin (R) of Tucson sponsored a
bill that requested Congress grant the Arizona Legislature access to the United
States Nuclear Waste Fund to build a nuclear recycling and geologic waste storage site.
The site would be the nation's first permanent nuclear recycling and waste storage site
and would likely store more than 65,000 metric tons of nuclear waste – some of which
could be radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years, if not longer. Currently, the
waste is stored in temporary locations, mostly at nuclear power plant sites where it is
produced. An additional 77 million gallons of military nuclear waste is stored in
steel tanks mostly in South Carolina, Washington and Idaho.

The bill was co-sponsored by District 5 Sen. Sylvia Allen (R) and supported by
District 5 Rep. Brenda Barton (R) who voted for the bill. Five potential Arizona sites
were identified by the Arizona Energy Edu-cation Fund Coalition, including the
Hualapai Valley north of Kingman; the Colorado Plateau province of the Holbrook Basin;
the Luke Basin west of Phoenix (where there is a nuclear power plant nearby); the
Picacho Basin southwest of Picacho Peak and the San Simon Valley southeast of Safford.
Except for the Luke Basin, the areas are supposedly under consideration due to a variety of
factors, including being somewhat rural areas and the solid salt content of the ground.

Sen. Melvin said he was touting Arizona for the project because it would
bring 50,000 jobs, including 10,000 construction jobs.

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From SCM 1004 (http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/scm1004p.pdf),
we can see them blaming Obamacare :

3 Whereas, many states, including Arizona, are facing unprecedented
4 budget crises that require them to make dramatic cuts to education, public
5 safety, health and welfare programs; and
6 Whereas, the United States Congress is currently considering health
7 care reform legislation that would require the already struggling states to
8 provide certain health care services but that does not provide funding for
9 the states to implement or maintain those services; and
10 Whereas, these unfunded mandates are unsustainable given the dire
11 fiscal condition of many states; and
12 Whereas, the Congress and President of the United States must ensure
13 that states receive federal monies to cover the costs of any health care
14 services they are required to provide under any federal health care reform
15 legislation that may be enacted.


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[mvccd1000]

1. This is kind of a NIMBY thing...

... in that many people support the use of nuclear power, but NOBODY wants the waste in their state.

I don't, either, but it's got to go somewhere. I'd like to see a lot more work dumped into figuring out ways to minimize or neutralize it.

By the way, NIMBY = "Not In My Back Yard," for anyone not versed in internet acronyms.

[rhett o rick]

2. The ignorant American public is unaware that close to 70,000 tons

of highly radioactive nuclear waste is stored in their back yards now, in a temporary status. This "temporary status" has been temporary for 30 years.

The current admin appears to be in no hurry to remedy this disaster waiting to happen.

[saras]

3. If everyone says NIMBY, that means no. That's democracy.

When people start saying "WE want it. Put it in THEIR back yard", that's oppression.

What we need to do is spend a few trillion dollars on SOLVING this problem instead of putting it off (i.e. a dump that has to be maintained forever).

[mvccd1000]

5. I think...

... that the unspoken corollary to NIMBY is that, "We want it, but... NIMBY." Unfortunately they (or we) don't get to have it both ways. Either you get it, and sometimes get it in your back yard, or or it doesn't go in your back yard and sometimes you don't get it.

[Turbineguy]

4. Great idea!

They can have their repub crony donors run the facilities!

[Kali]

6. the downtown Phx Legislature building would be perfect!

god Melvin sure fits in well with that crowd, don't he?