A home for nuclear waste

More often than not, when the question of where to construct anything unpleasant arises, people quickly adopt the “Not- in-my-backyard” attitude.

With Nevadans and the Yucca Mountain issue, this is most definitely the case.

We know the waste has to go someplace, but we don’t want it in our collective “backyard.”

Who would want a correctional facility, a sewage treatment plant, a giant garbage incinerator or, in our case, a nuclear waste dump anywhere near their home or family?

These are ugly, dangerous things that can decrease property values and make us feel uncomfortable in our own homes.

It is completely understandable to want these facilities placed as far away from our residences as possible.

Essentially, we want them out of sight and out of mind.

We don’t want to think about what goes where after we flush the toilet or take out the trash.

The fact is, however, all of these facilities are necessary parts of life, and they have to be built somewhere.

Since no one wants it in their backyard, it often falls on the government to make the decision.

Unfortunately, not everyone can be pleased.

Nevadans don’t want nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain – simple to understand.

Nuclear waste is dangerous and frightening.

Burying it in Nevada won’t exactly encourage people to live here, tourism may decline and we don’t even have a nuclear power plant in our state.

So why should we have to live with it in our “backyard?”

Because Nevada is the best place to store the waste.

The area chosen is the ideal resting ground for the goop, and there isn’t much we can do about it – except grin and bear it.

Yucca Mountain is an isolated, relatively desolate area, and the government has spent the last 15 years and several billion dollars making sure that it’s the place for the job.

Nuclear waste sucks – there is no arguing that.

If I had my way, we’d find a way to rid ourselves of the stupid plants that produce it in the first place.

However, the world is vastly imperfect, and, for the time being, nuclear energy is a necessity in many areas of our country.

There is presently waste stored in 131 locations in 39 states, much of it resting along the East Coast.

As a resident of Nevada, I’m definitely not keen on the idea of having tons and tons of radioactive gunk within 100 miles from my home, but that’s just too bad.

I would rather have it all there in one place than spread out so close to many highly populated cities and lush national forests.

The Senate has decided the waste is going underground in the middle of the desert, and, as much as I hate to admit it, I can’t honestly think of a better place for it.