Head of state nuclear agency unsure of future under Guinn

Thursday, Dec. 3, 1998 | 11:28 a.m.

RENO -- The future of Robert Loux, who has headed the state agency battling against the establishment of a nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain, is up in the air with the advent of the Republican administration of Gov.-elect Kenny Guinn.

Loux has tangled with GOP senators in the last year over allegations that his Nevada Nuclear Projects Office has misspent more than $600,000 in federal funds. One of those most critical of Loux has been Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, a member of the Guinn transition team.

Loux serves at the pleasure of the governor in the $63,000-a-year job and has had the full support of Democratic Govs. Bob Miller and Richard Bryan.

Loux has not yet talked with Guinn nor his chief of staff, Peter Ernaut. Ernaut said the focus so far has been getting a handle on the proposed budget. It will probably be two weeks before Guinn makes any decision on any switches in division heads.

Former Republican Attorney General Brian McKay, who heads the nuclear projects commission, said Wednesday that Loux has "done a great job." If asked by Guinn, McKay said, he would recommend that Loux remain, but added, "It's the governor's call."

Loux has matured in the job and "has toned down his public rhetoric," McKay said. "He's an asset to the office."

Raggio is in Washington, D.C., this week and could not be reached for comment. But he has blamed Loux and his office for the loss of $691,000 in federal funds. Without this money, the state has had to go to its emergency fund to keep the doors of the office open.

In September, Raggio told Loux, "The agency itself fouled up," a charge denied by Loux.

This isn't about the fight against high-level nuclear waste coming to Nevada, Raggio says. It's about the way the state agency has operated.

Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, a member of the Guinn transition team, said the nuclear office has become a "highly emotional" issue.

"It might stay the status quo," Marvel said. He added that the transition team has not talked about it.

Marvel has been unhappy with the performance of the office because of the audit reports, both state and federal, that suggest money has been misused. He predicts Guinn "will go slow" in making a decision on Loux.

Even if Loux is retained, he recognizes that Raggio and his Senate Finance Committee will be the main hurdle in getting a state appropriation, now that federal funds are drying up.

He has proposed that the state Legislature allocate $1.8 million to the agency in each of the next two fiscal years. In the past, the state has approved a token $50,000 and the office has enjoyed $5 million annually from the federal government.

But the Department of Energy has not given the state agency any money since 1995, and the last $691,000 remaining was frozen by the federal agency, which said there has been misspending.

Loux told the nuclear projects commission Wednesday that the "problem will be the finance committee" in getting any permanent state allocation. He said Sens. "Raggio, (Bill) O'Donnell and (Joe) Neal have been rather vocal about the office and our activities."

O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, has questioned the operation of the office. Neal, D-North Las Vegas, has split with the policy of the Miller and Bryan administrations, which have refused any negotiations with the Department of Energy. Raggio is chairman of the Finance Committee.

Loux said Raggio believes it's up to the federal government to support the agency. "And technically, he's correct. But what has happened is the law has been changed."

Loux said the Democratic-controlled Assembly Ways and Means Committee was "friendly."

McKay said "lots of animosity" built up between the nuclear office and the Senate Finance Committee during the late 1980s and early 1990s because of heated statements.

In dealing with Raggio, McKay said, "We must present facts and stay away from political rhetoric or we will run into a cement wall."

The Legislative Interim Finance Committee earlier this year allocated $615,000 in emergency funds to keep the office alive. Loux said he can use the money only to pay state staff and not for contracts for research on the site.

He said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., this fall got $250,000 from the federal government for the state, but that can be used only for contracts for studies on Yucca Mountain and not to pay state employees.

At the Wednesday nuclear commission meeting, a number of environmental groups, including the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Citizen Alert, the Nevada Outdoor Recreation Association and Campus Greens at the University of Nevada, Reno, pledged their support to get state money.

Bob Fulkerson of the leadership alliance said the $250,000 in federal money was "not enough. We expect a lot more from Senator Reid, who is now Number 2," referring to Reid's election as Senate Democratic whip.

Lee Dazey of Citizen Alert said it will begin a petition to gather signatures to show support of state funding for the office.

Meanwhile Loux is preparing to go before the Interim Finance Committee on Dec. 14 for an emergency appropriation of $600,000 to keep the agency afloat for the remainder of this fiscal year. He said he's hopeful Miller will appear in support.