Friday, February 11, 2000
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Mayor: Third World Would Take Waste
By Joe Schoenmann
After Nevada's U.S. senators claimed victory Thursday on a key nuclear waste dump vote, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman not only vowed to enforce a week-old ordinance banning the waste's transport on city streets, but also said he wouldn't mind fighting it in court himself.
Review-JournalThen he revealed his personal plan -- and he wasn't joking -- for storing nuclear waste without stepping on the toes of the American public.
Ship it to a Third World country.
"Why doesn't this go to a Third World country?" Goodman asked at a morning news conference, which followed Senate approval of a bill to move nuclear waste to a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. The bill passed, but not by enough votes to override a promised presidential veto.
Poorer countries would welcome the millions of dollars that the U.S. government would give to them in connection with such a plan, he said. And if security is an issue -- some radioactive waste can be used to make nuclear weapons -- then the United States could share its military might to secure a Third World installation, he said.
"There's no reason we couldn't have a military presence whereever this is placed," the mayor said.
On the more realistic chance that waste will remain in the United States and be shipped en masse to Nevada, the City Council on Feb. 2 approved an ordinance banning the transport of the waste on city streets.
Even though the Clark County district attorney's office opined that the ordinance is unconstitutional, Goodman said there is nothing symbolic about the city's vote.
"I fully intend to enforce it," he said.
Expecting a court fight over the matter, Goodman said he relished the thought of jumping into the legal fight himself.
"I would like to cross-examine the folks who like to take the position that it's safe," he said. "I would love the opportunity to get involved in that litigation."
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The Directors of HOPE feel compelled to comment on Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's suggestion that "Third World" countries would/should welcome the nuclear waste produced by nuclear power plants and other industries of the United States. It is wholly unconscionable to seek to solve the United State's nuclear waste problem by foisting it onto any other nation. Just as we, as a nation, should not attempt to solve that problem on the backs of the citizens of Nevada, we likewise should not attempt to solve the problem on the backs of any other peoples.
Indeed, we, as a nation, must accept the challenge of the Faustian bargain we made when we ventured down the "atomic brick road" with nary a thought for the consequences of the waste produced. All research and development monies allocated to things nuclear should be devoted solely to developing technology to address the waste problem until a demonstrably viable solution is achieved.