Letters: Don’t make waste you can’t dispose of

The facts about nuclear waste are chilling: It can remain lethal in minutes, even after a century of decay; some isotopes take a million years or more to cool down.

So why on earth are we building two nuclear power plants at the V.C. Summer site just north of Columbia in Jenkinsville, when there is no plan for long-term storage of the waste we already have, much less the waste to be produced by these new plants?

Recent articles in The State have detailed huge cost overruns that customers are shouldering via rate increases and the uncertainty that the plant contractor, Westinghouse, can even complete the project.

The parent company, Toshiba, has already said it is getting out of the nuclear power plant business. South Carolina should, too.

My mother taught me to clean up after myself. Leaving this mess for future generations to worry about is unconscionable, and creating more of it staggers the mind.

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Letters: Don’t make waste you can’t dispose of."