SR: Idaho Needs N-Waste Debate

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter sees “possibilities” in a new agreement allowing more nuclear waste into the state. So do two of his predecessors, and they do not like the possibilities they see. To former Idaho chief executives Cecil Andrus and Phil Batt, possibility No. 1 is a leak from storage facilities that hold spent fuel rods into the aquifer that sustains billions in Idaho agriculture. And possibility No. 2 is further pressure from the U.S. Department of Energy to allow more waste in because alternative sites are few. A site in New Mexico has been shut down for a year. Work at Yucca Mountain, envisioned as the final resting place for much of the nation’s waste, has halted/ Spokesman-Review Editorial Board . More here.

Question: I couldn’t agree more with the SR editorial this weekend. Idaho needs an open debate re: acceptance of more nuclear waste. This is a decision that cannot be Gov. Butch Otter’s alone. Thoughts?