By Elise Christenson
When I first heard of the proposal to store 40,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste within 45 miles of where live, I have to admit, it scared me.
I was scared because the words 'nuclear waste' conjured images in my mind of mushroom-shaped clouds, Godzilla monsters and three-eyed mutants.
No wonder Utah is afraid of allowing the Goshute Indians to lease Skull Valley to Private Fuel Storage for the temporary storage of nuclear waste.
But they shouldn''t be.
Madame Curie said, 'Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.'
Politicians such as Governor Leavitt, who has recently spoken out strongly against the project, get political leverage from capitalizing on the fear of nuclear waste because it is an easy target.
But for all the hoopla from the politicians and citizens, I have found that storing spent nuclear fuel is nothing to be scared about.
Simply put, storing nuclear waste in a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved location is safe.
Of all the electricity generating methods, nuclear is the cleanest and least damaging to our environment. The coal plant to the south of Skull Valley emits more radiation than the nuclear storage facility would.
According to the American Nuclear Society, I get far more radiation watching a season of 'Friends' on my television set than I would if I lived next to the facility in Skull Valley.
And let''s not discount the fact that nuclear fuel is important. The government is not going to stop producing it just because we are afraid.
The government knows we can''t depend forever on oil or gas to make electricity.
I am more scared about trusting the U.S. fuel supply to the likes of Saddam Hussein than I am about storing spent fuel in reinforced steel casks.
So if we do indeed need nuclear energy, why not store the spent fuel in Skull Valley?
The Goshute reservation, secluded in the desert, seems to me to be as good of a place as any.
The Goshutes were here long before my pioneer ancestors settled in Utah and yet the tribe has been placed in the armpit of Utah''s desert.
I say, kudos to the Goshutes if they can make millions by leasing a land that no one wants anyway.
The Goshutes are not afraid of living amid the nuclear plant. They are more afraid of not getting the project.
If it fails, they will have to find another way to survive, all the while living in an area that is not even deemed fit to dump the nation''s garbage in.
But, really, the plight of the Goshutes is a side note. The fact is that the waste exists and it needs to be stored.
If the licensing board decides against storing waste in Skull Valley, it will not be because Utahns are scared. If this location fails, Private Fuel Storage will just take the waste to another community of scared citizens.
But if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides it is safe to store spent fuel in Skull Valley, I, for one, will not be scared. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with nuclear energy.
Not that the fear of Utah citizens is a big deal anyway. Their fear will soon morph into indifference.
The storage facility will ultimately be forgotten, much like the nerve gas storage facility and the radioactive disposal site that neighbor Skull Valley.
It is my prediction that most of the protestors will simply go home, turn on the television, and make themselves feel better by soaking in some radiation while watching 'Friends.'