And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed, 17 Nov 1999 22:47:41 -0500 (EST) Top Ten Reasons to OPPOSE S. 1287, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999 1. Yucca Mountain is a time bomb. The site does not meet geologic requirements and is located in an earthquake-prone area. 2. S. 1287 places the financial burden of waste disposal on the tax-payer, granting a huge subsidy to the nuclear industry. 3. S. 1287 takes the authority of setting radiation standards away from the EPA and gives it to the NRC, even though EPA has already set standards for the area. 4. S. 1287 requires radiation standards that will allow 1 in 286 exposed people to die from cancer. Do some people deserve more cancer than others? 5. S. 1287 promotes research on irradiated fuel reprocessing which creates a dangerous market for plutonium and increases the likelihood of proliferation; The program will include accelerated transmutation of waste (ATW), a new, expensive reprocessing program. 6. S. 1287 launches the largest and longest nuclear waste shipping program in human history sending thousands of radioactive waste shipments through 43 states and near the homes of 50 million people. 7. S. 1287 increases the risk of a disastrous Chernobyl-like accident by putting canisters with the radiological equivalent of 200 Hiroshima bombs on our highways and railways. 8. Emergency response training and equipment is limited; When one of the 200 to 350 accidents occurs, the cost of cleanup will be borne by the tax-payer and the radiation effects for the "first-response" volunteers could be fatal. 9. S. 1287 has inadequate time limits, applying the critical radiation release standard for 10,000 years even though the maximum release of radiation will occur in 300,000 years. 10. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS!! There are other alternatives including having utilities store waste on-site. We need our law-makers to scrap this dangerous, expensive, ill-conceived plan and look for a real solution to the nuclear waste problem. For more information, contact Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) at (202) 543-8505. ACTIONS: 1. Call your Senator: Senate switchboard number 202-224-3121 2. Contact your Senator by e-mail on the Senate web site: http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm (Legislation information web site: http://thomas.loc.gov) 3. Write a letter to your Senator.; (See sample letter below.) 4. For more information, contact: Kimberly Robson, WAND Director of Policy and Programs Women's Action for New Directions, WAND 110 Maryland Avenue, NE Suite 205 Washington, DC 20002 Phone: 202-543-8505 Fax: 202-675-6469 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wand.org SAMPLE LETTER TO SENATOR Date The Honorable _____________ United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator ________: I am writing to urge you to OPPOSE the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1999 (S 1287). This bill compounds the shortsightedness that has plagued our country since the nuclear age began. S 1287 threatens the environment and public health and safety. The waste would travel through 43 states, exposing 50 million people to cancer-causing radiation. This legislation takes the authority to set radiation release standards at the nuclear waste disposal site away from the Environmental Protection Agency and gives it to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This action goes against current law, and it threatens public health and the environment because the NRC is willing to set any standard necessary to ensure the approval of a permanent repository site. S 1287 places the burden of paying for the mess made by nuclear waste generators on American taxpayers. The bill's backup storage provision would allow for the absolutely needless and terribly risky transportation of nuclear waste before final approval of a permanent repository. Further, the costs associated with transporting the waste and cleaning up the accidents will be borne by taxpayers. Finally, S 1287 violates U.S. nuclear non-proliferation policy by establishing an office specifically to research and develop nuclear fuel reprocessing technologies and share this information with other countries. Developing these technologies could make reprocessed plutonium used to make nuclear weapons more available. Please OPPOSE S 1287. Do not compound the shortsightedness of the past 50 years. Vote against this bill, and vote for a sustainable future. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, WAND, Women's Action for New Directions National Field Office 139 Candler Oaks Lane Decatur, GA. 30030 (404) 370-0448 (ph) (404) 370-0491 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wand.org Mission: To empower women to act politically to reduce militarism and violence and to redirect excessive military spending to human and environmental needs. Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
