Kemp runs with nuke waste ball

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

During a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Jack Kemp tried to bury nuclear waste as an issue in the Nov. 5 presidential election.

But Kemp, the Republican vice presidential candidate, became heated Tuesday when reporters asked why it took so long for the GOP ticket to announce a position virtually identical to the no-temporary-dump stance President Clinton has taken.

Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole refused during two earlier Las Vegas visits to say whether he would veto legislation to place a temporary nuclear waste dump at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

With three weeks to go before Election Day, and with Nevada a virtual tossup, Kemp tried to defuse the nuke issue.

After speaking to about 500 seniors at the Desert Vista Community Center in Sun City in northwest Las Vegas, Kemp staged a news conference to stress that a Dole White House would oppose a temporary dump in Nevada.

"This is too important an issue to be raised as a political issue this late in the campaign," Kemp said. "There will be no interim waste site for nuclear waste in Nevada."

Gov. Bob Miller, state chairman of President Clinton's re-election campaign, said he was disturbed that Dole announced his decision "only 19 days" before the Nov. 5 general election, while Clinton has made his position known for "19 months."

"I'm not surprised that after the issue has been defeated this year (in Congress) because of the stance of the president that they (Dole and Kemp) would say, 'Oh, yeah, we agree,'" Miller said. "I still don't think it's a heartfelt position."

Kemp charged that Miller has "played politics" with the issue and accused Clinton of being fuzzy on the matter of permanent storage. Clinton has said he would not authorize a permanent waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, unless science proves it is safe.

Kemp also said he and Dole would consider science first. But he said they would consult with all governors and senators before making a decision on permanent storage.

"I always believed we should do these sites with an eye on the population," Kemp said. "We'll make a decision, (based) not on politics, but on safety and security and all the scientific evidence available."

Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., who accompanied Kemp at the news conference, said he recently urged the Dole-Kemp team to oppose interim storage in Nevada.

Ensign, running for re-election in Nevada's 1st Congressional District, said he believes Dole's opposition to interim storage may even be enough now to allow Dole to capture Nevada's four electoral votes. Several polls indicate that Clinton and Dole are running even in Nevada.

"He not only talked about no interim storage but reviewed the entire process," Ensign said of Kemp. "He has gone beyond what the Clinton administration has done."

Miller said he doubted Nevada voters would support Dole solely on his newfound nuclear waste position.

Bob Loux, a Miller appointee who directs Nevada's nuclear projects agency, said he still expects the nuclear power industry to get a bill introduced next year in Congress to place an interim storage site in Nevada. The Senate approved such a bill 63-37 this summer after a lengthy filibuster by Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev.

Ensign, Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev., and congressional candidate Jim Gibbons took the credit for getting the bill killed in the House last month after last-minute negotiations with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and other Republican leaders.

Loux said Clinton, however, has made a stronger commitment than Dole to opposing interim storage in Nevada and would be better able to block a veto override attempt if Democrats win control of Congress.

"I guess what they (Dole and Kemp) have finally done is read the poll numbers and acted accordingly," Loux said. "It doesn't take much time to realize that 70 (percent) to 80 percent of the people oppose nuclear storage in Nevada."