Thousands of Nevadans Sign Petition to Stop Yucca Mountain

Press Release

Entire Nevada delegation helped gather signatures against making Nevada a nuclear waste dump

More than 4,000 Nevadans and concerned citizens signed a petition assembled by the entire Nevada Congressional delegation asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to put a stop to reckless plans to dump the nation's radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain.

The members of the delegation believe the DOE's application is fatally flawed and incomplete, and insufficient to proceed any farther. Nevada Senator Harry Reid also today sent a letter to the NRC outlining the objections of those who signed the petition, and asking the commission not to docket for review the Department of Energy's (DOE) license application to build the dump at Yucca Mountain.

"It's time for the NRC to listen to the collective voice of Nevada: the proposed Yucca Mountain dump is wrong and we will not accept it," Reid said. "Thousands of Nevadans signed onto our petition to send this loud and clear message, one that shows we stand together in firm opposition."

"Nevadans across the state are unified in their opposition to Yucca Mountain," Senator John Ensign said. "Citizens in this state have used their voices to send a clear message to the Department of Energy: we will not stand for a nuclear waste dump in our back yard. The time has come for the DOE to move in a different direction with nuclear waste and accept the fact that Yucca Mountain is dead."

"The NRC can demonstrate its independence from the Bush White House by rejecting this effort to fast track plans to turn Nevada into a nuclear garbage dump," Congresswoman Shelley Berkley said. "Denying DOE's incomplete license application will send a clear message that protecting human lives and ensuring public safety will not lose out to raw nuclear politics. This petition represents the voice of families who oppose Yucca Mountain and the Commissioners should demonstrate their commitment to a fair process by forcing DOE to supply the critical missing pieces of this key document before it's docketed."

"We, as Nevadans, are united in our opposition to the dumping of nuclear waste in our back yard," Congressman Jon Porter said. "The NRC cannot ignore our unanimous and firm demands that the license application not be filed."

"The thousands of signatures on this petition are proof of Nevada's overwhelming opposition to the Yucca Mountain project," Congressman Dean Heller said. "The congressional delegation and our fellow Nevadans call on the NRC to reject DOE's license application and put an end to this deeply flawed project."