Nuclear Waste

I am writing a letter in response to your editorial “Garbage That’s Too Hot to Handle” (Dec. 2): I am disappointed in the editorial; it did not take a strong stance in its position on nuclear waste. Of course the disposal of nuclear waste is linked to man’s future and posterity. That garbage remains dangerous for close to 10,000 years.

The Department of Energy needs to find new ways to either harness energy or eliminate the dangerous waste once and for all. Presently, there may be areas able to keep the waste. However, at the rate we are producing it, there won’t be enough places to deposit the waste for long. What will we do then? Will we start poisoning outer space just as we will by then have our own planet?

There may be arguments suggesting that the disposal areas are checked so that there will be no leaks into our environment. This sounds reassuring, yet how sure are the experts? Many officials in charge may be negligent or too preoccupied with other problems. By placing the radioactive waste in our ground--no matter how secure the site is--we face the risk of contaminating our water and killing plants and animals.

Is it our right to gamble with the lives of other creatures on this Earth as well as our own?

VAN VUONG

San Clemente