Yucca Mountain Survey Analysis

While conducting these surveys, I guessed that there would be a fair amount of people who had family members who have been affected by the fallout from the Nevada nuclear testing. However, I wouldn’t have guessed that it would be almost half of everyone I surveyed. I administered 50 surveys and what I found was that 22 people (44%) have a family member that has been affected by the fallout. I think that this will be useful in my essay because there are obviously strong feelings here in southern Utah when it comes to the issue of nuclear power. I think that my survey results also give credibility to my argument because many people may not realize just how much southern Utah has been affected because of nuclear projects. Seeing the percent of affected people is an eye opener for me and I’m sure it will be for others as well.

                Something I found interesting while conducting my survey was that no one answered yes to the question, “Should a nuclear waste project still be considered for Yucca Mountain”. However, four people (8%) responded that they were unsure about whether the answer should be yes or no. The thing that was interesting about this was that the 8% of people who were unsure about the answer were all people that did not have a family member who had been affected by the nuclear fallout. Everyone who had a family member that had been affected had definite strong feelings that Yucca Mountain should not be considered for a nuclear waste project.  Someone wrote a comment on the survey that said their support of a nuclear waste project at Yucca Mountain would “depend on what the alternatives are”. This brought up a really good point that I feel I should address in my essay. Of course, no one wants nuclear waste to be their neighbor. But, it has to go somewhere and people need to be aware of what the options are.

Interview

Because my essay topic is Yucca Mountain and the issue of using it as a dump for nuclear waste, I decided to interview someone who has been affected by nuclear waste. I interviewed my mom because she was diagnosed with cancer due to nuclear testing in Nevada. From this interview, I was able to gain an appreciation of why she and others in her situation are distrustful of the government. When the nuclear testing was going on in Nevada, the government assured its citizens that it was not harmful. Later, when they realized their mistake, they tried to make up for it by helping pay for the medical bills of the people who got sick from the nuclear testing. However, I learned that they only provide this funding to people whose birth date is before a certain time. Even though professional cancer doctors have testified that my mom’s cancer is a direct result of the Nevada nuclear testing, the government refused to help pay for any of her bills because her she was born too late. Another thing I learned from my interview is that scientists who have tested the fallout from the nuclear testing say that the radiation does not reach its half-life until 2012. This means that it is still fairly potent until this time. People are still legitimately getting cancer from the nuclear testing in Nevada, and yet, the government no longer provides funds for these people.

I think the information I gathered from this interview is valuable because it is a first-hand account of the dangers of nuclear waste. Also, it adds to my argument that the government has proven itself irresponsible in this area. They do not believe that anyone is still affected by the fallout; throughout the course of my mom having cancer I watched her hair fall out as well as her lips turn gray. I’d say that those are pretty real effects.