The 1993 explosion at the Twin Towers in New York suggests on-site storage is vulnerable to tampering. While this is not entirely out of the realm of possibility, these objections seem driven by something other than safety concerns over Yucca Mountain. If America's nuclear energy production capacity is to remain viable, the nuclear waste disposal problem must be resolved. The study and building of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository thus has a huge impact on America's energy future. The Iraq war was one war too many to fight over foreign oil reserves.
Hydrocarbon fuels are environmental polluters.
Nuclear power plants do not pollute the atmosphere. They also emit less radioactivity than many coal-fired plants. U.S. hydrocarbon reserves are limited. Hydro power is essentially used up. Solar is promising but geographically limited in application and resource intensive.