Plutonium Initiative

1998 Proposed Ballot Initiatives

Contact Person / Organization	Dr. Peter Rickards PO Box 911 Twin Falls ID 83303 (208) 734-3338
Status	failed to qualify
Short Ballot Title	Initiative attempting to regulate reburial of plutonium and attempting to add certain requirements concerning radioactive material to state air quality permits.
Long Ballot Title	Initiative attempting to regulate reburial of plutonium and attempting to add certain requirements concerning radioactive material to state air quality permits.
Attorney General Certificate of Review	Can be viewed at the Attorney Generals web page - see under 'Opinions'
Full Text	This initiative corrects two areas the state of Idaho has legal power to protect itself from nuclear disasters. This initiative stops the state from cooperating with the reburial of plutonium and reinstates into the air quality permits the state's right to the truth about all nuclear accidents including radioactive releases from incinerators. This one initiative ties together Idaho's past nuclear dumping and our future nuclear experiments allowing us to protect ourselves and generations to come. In an effort to save Idaho's water from cancer causing plutonium that lasts 240,000 years, we the people of Idaho choose to vote "Yes" on this law. Because plutonium has already leaked 240' down, toward our aquifer, no state employee, including the governor, is allowed to sign or agree to anything that allows the burial or reburial of plutonium in Idaho. This would still allow clean up procedures, like the officially listed "Alternative 5", that would fulfill the promise made to Senator Church in 1970. That promise was to dig up the plutonium and contain it above ground safely, until it can leave the state of Idaho. In addition, we want to know the truth about future nuclear experiments and projects that are planned for Idaho. Accidents at some of these nuclear projects can cause thousands of latent cancer deaths. We demand that the present state air quality permits require written accident analysis and calculate the dose of radiation they inflict on Idahoans. This must include radiation doses to pregnant women and their babies. This must include the worst weather conditions and geological conditions, including earthquakes, for the lifetime of project and the lifetime of nuclear waste created. This requires analysis of plutonium particles released from incinerators and their dose to our lungs and bones during normal operation. This includes analysis of all radionuclides released during normal and accident situations. This includes analysis of radionuclides transported offsite by wildlife. Because of the many accidental radioactive releases in Idaho, all accidents will be considered as normal operations. No air quality permits shall be issued if the radiation dose exceeds the present legal limit, to a member of the public, during normal or accident analysis. The term "member of the public" includes doses of radiation to the most vulnerable, the unborn fetus. We the people of Idaho are voting "Yes" on this law, to protect our children, our water and our air for generations to come. This is needed for projects presently planned for Idaho, like the incinerator and like the weapons grade plutonium refinery. It is not an anti-nuclear law and it would allow good projects, like producing radioactive medical isotopes. All applicable state laws and regulations, including state actions in tri-party clean up agreements, will be corrected to comply with the spirit and letter of this initiative and no federal laws will be broken. The usual severability clause applies, allowing the law to stand, if parts are found unconstitutional.