Lawmakers want to rein in nuke office

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:47 a.m.

Bob Loux, who runs the office, would have to make detailed quarterly reports to the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee to get funding for the next quarter, under the plan approved Thursday.

The controls were proposed because of the audit and also because Loux at first balked at accepting the audit recommendations, Finance members contended.

"There were a lot of exceptions and they were dramatic exceptions," said Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas. "And to my knowledge, we really haven't had a response from the agency that has shown any willingness to come under any controls."

The Nuclear Projects Office is spearheading Nevada's efforts to keep the federal government from building a permanent nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, and fighting to prevent use of the Nevada Test Site for temporary storage of such waste.

The agency was funded by federal grants but those were cut off after 1995. The state is now suing to force federal energy officials to release more grant money to Nevada.

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