Former Nevada senator afraid Yucca’s a done deal

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Former U.S. Sen. Howard Cannon says there is "no chance" that Southern Nevada will avoid getting a nuclear waste repository.

Cannon, who served four terms in the Senate before his shocking upset loss to political upstart Chic Hecht in 1982, made his comments Wednesday during a rare speaking engagement before the Las Vegas Kiwanis Club at a Las Vegas restaurant.

"In my mind, there is no chance it (the proposed nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain) could be blocked," Cannon told the gathering of about two dozen Kiwanians.

Cannon, who had just delivered an uninspiring speech on his recent trip to Washington for the presidential inauguration ceremony, did not elaborate on the dump issue, but acknowledge that many others feel there will be "a different conclusion" to the controversy.

Surveys show that a majority of Las Vegans do not want a nuclear dump in Southern Nevada and believe they can successfully halt it.

And while some observers may feel that the decision to put the dump at Yucca Mountain was made long ago by the federal government, few are willing to say publicly that the fight to stop it won't be successful.

Cannon, who turned 85 on Sunday, has been in retirement from his political consulting work since 1995, but remains close to his Washington ties. He has lifetime privileges on the floor of the Senate and is still in demand to attend major Democratic functions like the inauguration.

And while many Las Vegans today may not even recognize his name, Cannon's opinion is still valued highly on the Nevada political scene.

In a 1995 SUN profile story on Cannon, he said the issue of a nuclear dump in Southern Nevada never would have come up had he not lost to Hecht.

"I would have become chairman of the Armed Services Committee and it (the proposed waste repository) would have had to come before us," Cannon told the SUN when he retired and moved from Virginia back to Las Vegas.

"There were a lot of things I could have done to make sure Nevada never came up (as a proposed site)."

Among Cannon's many great political accomplishments was his work to preserve Nellis Air Force Base at a time when it could have been phased out.

In 1960, Cannon blazed the path for equal rights for all when he voted to end a filibuster by Southern Democrats, which led to the floor vote in favor of the civil rights legislation.

It was a move that almost cost him his political career in Nevada, which at the time was called "the Mississippi of the West" because of its segregation policies. As a result, Cannon won re-election in 1964 by just 48 votes -- one of the closest races in U.S. Senate history.

Also on Wednesday, Cannon appeared to disappoint one audience member who asked about the chances for quick passage of congressional campaign finance reform, by saying: "I don't think there is any chance of it."

In his one attempt at humor, Cannon drew a rousing chuckle when, in response to a question about legendary billionaire Howard Hughes, he said: "My memories of Howard Hughes would be that there are no memories of Howard Hughes -- he was aloof, quiet and non-descriptive."

Cannon, a World War II hero whose plane was shot down, forcing him to spend 42 days behind Nazi lines, said in response to a question about his escape to freedom: "It was a very thrilling exercise."

Cannon, who received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart and France's Croix de Guerre, retired as a major general in the Air Force Reserve.