To the editors:
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I am writing in response to Scott Mervis’ article “Nuke Lite” in the March 30 issue of the Reader. I can’t understand the tone the Department of Energy (DOE) takes with the waste created by nuclear power. The DOE doesn’t want to take responsibility for waste but still proposes to build a passive nuclear plant. The DOE awards $50 million for research on innovative nuclear power but conveniently sits idle on the question of disposal. The DOE presumes an increased demand for clean, efficient nuclear power in the 90’s but doesn’t want the responsibility of finding a stable 10,000 year storage site. The logic of that statement doesn’t exist.
Meanwhile utilities will continue to store high level wastes on the same site where they are produced. The DOE plans to litter the country with miniature reactors complete with a temporary dump. The DOE may have solved the production problems but the maintenance issue will always remain.
