-Submit a Letter to the Editor Opposing the Yucca Mountain
                                 Nuclear Dump

                                 BACKGROUND:

                                 On February 14th, 2002, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (who accepted more than
                                 $82,000 from the nuclear industry during the last election cycle) officially recommended
                                 to the president that a nuclear waste dump be developed at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
                                 The next day President Bush approved this recommendation and referred it to Congress.
                                 The State of Nevada will likely veto the site recommendation, but Congress could
                                 override Nevada's objection with a majority vote in both Houses. A vote is expected late
                                 this spring.

                                 Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is the only site being considered for a nuclear waste repository.
                                 If approved by Congress, 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste from commercial
                                 nuclear power plants and Department of Energy weapons facilities would be transported
                                 through 44 states and the District of Columbia, putting millions of Americans at risk.
                                 Yucca Mountain is a sacred site to the Western Shoshone Nation, which claims title to
                                 the land in an unresolved land dispute. The area is seismically active and radiation from
                                 the proposed repository would eventually leak into the groundwater and contaminate the
                                 surrounding environment.

                                 TAKE ACTION!

                                 Help raise awareness in your community about the dangers of this disastrous project!
                                 Put pressure on your Members of Congress to oppose the Yucca Mountain Project!
                                 SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of your local paper and/or newsletter. Call your local
                                 newspaper to find out about word-count restrictions and where to submit a letter to the
                                 editor. Please send us copies of any letters that get printed.

                                 -SUGGESTED POINTS TO INCLUDE IN A LETTER TO THE EDITOR-

                                 * A Yucca Mountain repository would introduce new risks to Nevada and the millions of
                                 Americans living near transportation routes.

                                 * Yucca Mountain is crisscrossed with earthquake faults and perched above an aquifer
                                 that area residents rely on for drinking water.

                                 * Tens of thousands of train and truck shipments of deadly cargo would crisscross the
                                 country, passing through 44 states and the District of Columbia en route to Yucca
                                 Mountain. (If possible, include details about likely transportation routes through your
                                 state.) An accident involving a nuclear waste shipment could be catastrophic.

                                 * The proposed repository would not consolidate U.S. nuclear waste in one location.
                                 Yucca Mountain could not contain all the waste projected to be generated by U.S.
                                 reactors - estimated to exceed 88,000 tons. And "new" nuclear waste must be stored in a
                                 cooling pool for at least five years before it can be transported. So even if a repository
                                 opens, at least five years worth of nuclear waste will remain at each operating reactor.

                                 * [YOUR STATE]'s Congressional delegation should put public health and safety above
                                 nuclear industry special interests and vote against the flawed repository proposal.

                                 OTHER TIPS:

                                 - Keep it short! Check with your paper to find out the specific word count limit.

                                 - Include your name, address, and phone number.