Letters to the editor for Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013

Yucca Mountain praise lands far off the mark

In Doug Bradshaw’s Aug. 28 editorial entitled “Yucca Would Place Nevada in the Driver’s Seat,” his criticism of the state’s long-standing efforts to block the proposed Yucca Mountain repository project is misinformed.

There is no $15 billion asset there ready to be converted into a “21st century Nuclear Research and Development campus.” There is only an abandoned five-mile exploratory tunnel. Serious scientific study over the last quarter century convincingly shows that Yucca Mountain is not a safe site for a nuclear waste repository. Nevada is fortunate to have Sen. Reid in the U.S. Senate to block this ill-conceived project. What began as public outrage has grown into a well-documented case against an unsafe project with a $97 billion price tag. Locating a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, a seismically-active, volcano-prone, fractured structure above the water table makes no sense.

When Yucca Mountain was halted, a Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission considered new options for nuclear waste storage and disposal. They issued a series of recommendations, the first of which was that any future site was to be voluntary. Nevadans will not consent to a project that would threaten our health, economy, and groundwater.

Judy Treichel

Executive director of Nuclear Waste Task Force

Attacking Syria would be a boost to al-Qaida

If our president decides to attack Syria with or without Congressional approval, he is aiding al-Qaida. It would assist the Syrian rebels which includes al-Qaida in their attempt to overthrow the Syrian government. This would be another step forward in his aiding of radical Islamists.

Prior to the discussion regarding Syria, he has done nothing about Benghazi, and he has done nothing about Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. I wouldn’t say he favors Islamists; however, it seems he has done nothing to rein in the radical mindset of the Islamists and their attempt to take over the entire Middle East. Congress should not assist the president in this poorly thought out act of war.

John Devenish

Carson City

Questions over issues at library unanswered

When some people reject facts and reason, they regress to personal comments and emotions. Frieda Ford pursued the illogical path, offering no credible answers to troubling questions raised by this writer about excess city library administration, duplicate computers, library system segregation, an unproductive business development center and the unwarranted $161,000 vending machine.

Ms. Ford and her library associates have repeatedly ignored the existence, discussion and research of constructive improvement ideas. Justification of existing spending with tangible deliverables and cost-benefit analyses is non-existent. “If it sounds good, do it” signifies their operating mindset, disrespecting the private sacrifices people make to fund public frivolity.

We must engage elected and appointed officials when abuse, waste and duplication surface. Tragically, this library engages and includes only those supporting its misguided agenda, which is emblematic of serial mismanagement at the city water, sewer and animal services functions.

A public library’s core mission is to compile information for public access; it is not an accredited school, a social welfare agency, a settlement house, a child care facility, a homeless shelter, a computer gaming gallery, a computer training laboratory, or a business incubator/counseling operation. We have multiple capable public institutions performing these functions already. We could have an integrated, statewide public library network and vibrant e-books/materials exchange capabilities but for the gratuitous library waste and disinterest. Some of us will soon receive a library service survey. Maybe the library can find its way back to its core capability ... information provision ... with sufficient public encouragement?

Fred Voltz

Carson City