The U-S House passed a bill Wednesday that would make Nevada the nation’s primary dump for nuclear waste and shipments would be carried by trucks and trains through Iowa. Democrat Leonard Boswell was the only Iowa Congressman to vote against the plan to make Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the hot spot for spent fuel rods. Congressman Tom Latham, one of four Iowa republicans who voted yes, says it was a tough decision, but the logical choice. He says the facility has been studied for nearly 20 years and all the scientific data shows it’s a safe place to store the material.Interstate 80 and the Union Pacific rail line would be key routes through Iowa. I-80 passes through many large Iowa cities, including Davenport, Iowa City, Des Moines and Council Bluffs, while the U-P railroad goes through cities including Cedar Rapids, Ames and Denison. Latham says the containers used to transport nuclear waste are extremely safe. He says Nevada has been studied for years for this facility. The waste would come from more than a hundred nuke plants across the U-S. Latham says it’s safer to move all of the waste to one dump site, in Nevada, than to have dozens of sites nationwide, all of which could be terrorist targets. The bill will go to the Senate this summer.
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