More questions about LAS VEGAS ~~~needs help mamas

[bellamama]

Hi Mamas,
Well my Dh got a job offer and we could "potentially" be moving to Vegas over the summer. I have been on the computer researching as much as I can about Vegas and stumbled across Nevada Test Site information. OH MY GOD is this stuff truly frightening. I mean disturbinginly scary! I'm really worried about everything that I have read and almost NOT willing to move because of it. Please, ladies, if you have any words of advice or wisdom, I really need them now! What are you thoughts about Nevada and the environmental ramifications of the NTS? Is this a concern for you at all and how to you deal with this without letting it freak you out daily???? I need some honest opinions about Vegas...anything you can tell me would be so appreciated. Even if it is not about the environment. Do you like living there???? Sorry to rant but we need to decide immediately and I am leaning towards NO. thank you~~~~~~~~~~

[TMKmom]

I am new here but I live in Las Vegas.

The nuclear dump I would not be too concerned about. The real danger lies not so much in the storage of the containers but in the transportation of them. So you are not really going to be less safe living in Las Vegas, than you will be living anywhere in the country that they are traveling through (which is almost everywhere!) If they can survive the transportation and actually GET them in the ground at Yucca Mountain, they should be considered basically safe.

O, wait, I just re-read your post and you aren't talking about Yucca Mountain you are talking about NTS. Well... we've never had any problems with the NTS. They use low-level experimental radiation there. Not enough stuff to blow up the planet.

The only place in Nevada that has had any real health problems is Fallon and they aren't ready to connect that to the nuclear stuff yet. It's possible but not probable.

Aside from the nuclear stuff, the state is fairly ecologically responsible. There are a lot of parks and areas that are preserved. We actually have the nations largest wildlife preserve here, I think. It's about 45 min from where I live and it is the size of Delaware, if I recall correctly. It's a preserve for Big Horn Sheep. We also have a significant Native population and they always do a good job of caring for the land. There are reservations all over the state.

The NTS is an hour away from Las Vegas and most of us never give it a second thought.

[bellamama]

thanks so much TMKmom for your response, I appreciate it. Welcome to the board, it really is an invaluable source of information and the mamas here are the best.
It looks like we will be moving to Vegas sometime over the summer. I am really trying not to focus on the NTS but it really is lingering in the back of my head... thanks for your insight. Any other thoughts or experiences about Vegas you could share would be extrememly appreciated:love thanks again!

[TMKmom]

You are moving here in summer! Wow, it will be very hot to you!

If you live in the southern part of Las Vegas, you will be even farther than I am from the NTS. Trust me, it's far enough out in the desert, you will barely think about it. If you ever do take a that long trek into the desert and see it, I think you will be underwhelmed. :) Maybe I take too light of a stance on it, I just think it's fine, it's safe. It's not in the same legue as a nuclear power plant. It's just experiments and stuff.

I personally LOVE living in Las Vegas. The weather is freakin' beautiful everyday. Kind of blows your mind to wake up to sunshine every day after day after day.

Raising kids here... I don't know... I wouldn't want to raise teenagers here but I think it's a decent place for small children.

[bellamama]

The weather does sound so amazing and I am looking forward to it! I know it is going to be sooo incredibly hot when we get there, much warmer than what we are used to... I also have the same concerns about Vegas not being the best place for a family...especially when they become teenagers. The phrase "SIN City" just keeps running through my head...There is a lot of crap there I do not want my kid (s) to be exposed to. I guess I will have to deal with that when the time comes...:hippie