Editorial: On guard against nuke waste peril

Friday, May 8, 1998 | 10:34 a.m.

LAST week brought disturbing news that federal funding of state oversight of the Yucca Mountain project was to end soon.

In the interim, two events this past week show how critical it is for the state to replace the loss of federal funding with state funding to continue the ongoing monitoring of misguided efforts to build a high-level nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

First, Gov. Bob Miller announced this week that a study commissioned by the state has found that the final cost of a nuclear waste dump will be $53.9 billion during the life of the project, a far cry from the U.S. Department of Energy's 1995 estimate of $33 billion. To gain some perspective, the cost overrun is half the cost of the Persian Gulf War.

On another front, the Sun's Mary Manning reports that Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials are expressing new worries about missing scientific information that could hamper the project's approval. The commission, which would have to approve Yucca Mountain as a repository, met with Energy Department officials to discuss missing records, including scientific information for water use and storage.

Over the years, Energy Department officials have repeatedly said, "Trust us." The problem for the Energy Department is that trust has to be earned, something it has yet to receive from Nevadans. When scientific findings suggest Yucca Mountain isn't the best location for a dump, they tend to get lost in the shuffle by the Energy Department.

The battle over the Yucca Mountain project is far from over. With each passing day there seems to be encouraging news on the scientific front, yet distressing political news from Washington. It is becoming even more obvious that the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee will have to step up to the plate and provide the necessary funding to keep in business the state's watchdog, the Nuclear Waste Projects Office.