KEEP YELLOWSTONE NUCLEAR FREE News Update - February 8, 2000 Welcome to the weekly online newsletter of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free. Our goal is to bring you the latest developments, news, meeting dates, and actions you can take to Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free. We welcome your comments and suggestions. PLEASE ATTEND the DOE's Public Comment Meeting on the High Level Waste & Facilities Disposition at INEEL this Wednesday evening, February 9, at SnowKing. Your comments are important & will be for the record. Of the five alternatives offered in the DOE's recently released, (& one-year overdue!) Environmental Impact Study, vitrification of the HLW, without separating it into categories, offers the least environmental & economic risk. In addition, INEEL's calciner must not be allowed to resume operations, as the process releases very hazardous emissions. Definitions: Vitrification - heating HLW into molten glass to form a ceramic, which is more easily stored and poses less risk HLW - High Level Waste Calcining - A drying process which reduces hazardous liquid to a powder form, but which gives off very dangerous emissions. Schedule: Open House-5 pm; Briefing-6 pm; Q & A-6:30-7:30 pm; Public Comments-7:30 p.m. You may email comments to: http://www.jason.com/hlwdeis Or send them to Tom Wichmann, Document Manager US Dept. of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, MS 1108 850 Energy Drive Idaho Falls, ID 83401-1563 ____________________________________________________________________________ GOVERNMENT FINALLY HEARS A NUCLEAR TOWN'S HORRORS Los Angeles Times - February 5, 2000 By Kim Murphy, Times Staff Writer Report on the hearing at Hanford, Washington, where legions of very sick workers and widows Document their higher-than-normal rates of a wide range of cancers. www.latimes.com/archives - then search by date and reporter. You have to register, but articles are free for 14 days. ____________________________________________________________________________ __ DOE: Don't Mess Up the Mess Excerpted from an article by Steve Hopkins of the Snake River Alliance Nuclear weapons production left a deadly brew of high-level waste sitting above the Snake River Aquifer. It contains intensely radioactive, short-lived fission products (strontium and cesium) as well as long-lived isotopes (plutonium and uranium-235, which remain dangerously radioactive for a quarter of a million years and 7.4 billion years respectively). Hazardous chemicals and toxic heavy metals top off the mix. The Department of Energy is set to spend anywhere from $3 billion to $12 billion over the next 36 years to put this waste in a more stable (still hazardous and radioactive) form. The DOE will need our help. _______________________________________________________________________ LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN GETTING RESULTS Nearly 1000 letters have been signed & sent to US Senators Enzi & Thomas, US Rep. Cubin, & Gov. Geringer. Thanks to your efforts, Enzi, Thomas & Cubin have written a letter to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson asking him to address alternatives to incineration at INEEL immediately. Their letter was published in the February 2nd issue of the JH Guide and may also be found on our website If you haven't yet sent letters, they are available at: Back Door Deli, Betty Rock Cafe, Cheap Thrills, Jackson Hole Roasters, Gordo's, Harvest Bakery, Images of Nature Gallery, Jackson Hole Traders, Knobe's, Pearl Street Bagels (both locations) Skinny Skis, Stone Drug, Teton Mountaineering, Valley Book Store, Wild Turkey Boutique, and Wyoming Wear. Here is the letter and addresses, if you prefer to print and send them yourself. Be sure to add a person note at the P.S. Senator Mike Enzi 290 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Senator Craig Thomas 109 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 US Rep. Barbara Cubin 1114 Longworth House Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Gov. Jim Geringer State Capitol, Room 124 Cheyenne, WY 82002 Dear I am writing to urge you to take action to halt the issuance of permits to build the proposed nuclear and hazardous waste incinerator at INEEL near Idaho Falls. The recent public hearing in Jackson with about 1000 people present, indicates just how deeply people fear for their health and the health of their lands. I ask that you call for a congressional hearing to examine the health effects and legalities of the proposed incinerator, examine the modeling process and examine alternatives to incineration. This project has been rejected in at least 3 other locations. Why should Wyoming be forced to accept the horrific consequences of incineration in the name of expediency? Please make your actions public and tell me how you intend to address this burning issue. Sincerely, (SIGNATURE) NAME (PLEASE PRINT): ADDRESS: P.S. * Visit our website at: www.yellowstonenuclearfree.com * If you have comments, suggestions, or would like to be removed from this list, email us at: jweaver@wyoming.com * If you have a friend who would like to receive this News Update, have them email their name, address, phone number and email address to: jweaver@wyoming.com