The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rarely makes public political statements, except on subjects relating to specific moral issues and Church doctrines, such as marriage and family or gambling. In fact, the last such statement was in 1981, in opposition to the proposed MX missile program in Utah.
Yesterday, the First Presidency made another such rare statement, this time about the proposal to store nuclear waste at Skull Valley in Utah and Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The full text of the statement follows:
The transportation and storage of high-level nuclear waste create substantial and legitimate public health, safety, and environmental concerns.
It is not reasonable to suggest that any one area bear a disproportionate burden of the transportation and concentration of nuclear waste.
We ask the federal government to harness the technological and creative power of the country to develop options for the disposal of nuclear waste.
Both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News have reported on the statement.
nuclear waste, politics, Utah
