Nuke office strapped for cash

Thursday, Sept. 24, 1998 | 10:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state agency fighting to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada has received an emergency appropriation of $240,000 to keep its doors open for four more months, but its director say that's not enough to protect the interests of the citizens.

Bob Loux, head of the Nuclear Projects Office, said the funding will not permit his agency to review and comment on upcoming critical reports to be released by the U.S. Department of Energy concerning whether Yucca Mountain is suitable for a high-level nuclear dump.

The state office lost $691,000 in federal funds because an audit said it misspent money. Congress has not allocated any money to the state for about two years, so officials have turned to the state for support.

Loux asked the Legislative Interim Finance Committee Wednesday for $810,000 to carry the agency through the early months of 1999. He said that amount would pay for staff and the contracts of consultants who evaluate the federal studies of the proposed repository.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, balked at allocating the full amount, saying the state was short of money.

"The agency itself fouled up," Raggio said. "This committee (interim finance) was not responsible."

Nobody, he added, wants to see nuclear waste coming to Nevada. He said, however, that the state's emergency fund is being depleted and it was never the intention that the state should pick up the cost of the office.

The interim finance committee earlier this year allocated $375,000 to keep the office operating until the end of this month.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, supported Loux, saying if the state doesn't allocate any money, "we look like we don't care."

Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, also backed Loux, saying 75 percent of Nevada residents oppose Yucca Mountain.

Later this year, the Energy Department is going to release a report on whether Yucca Mountain is a feasible site for the repository. In early 1999, it will also complete its draft environmental statement on the location. In both cases, Loux said, the state needs to comment and make its case.

Private contractors have been doing most of the evaluations while his seven-member staff has been managing the contracts.

"We have to review and comment if Nevada is to continue to protect its interest," Loux said. "This would not even allow us to do the minimum."

In other action, the finance committee:

* Approved the return of 12 acres of the state children's home to Boulder City, in exchange for about 49 acres on which to build a veterans home. The 1997 Legislature voted to close the children's home and now the state is giving the land back to the city which in turn will make available other property for the $19 million veterans home which is on the drawing boards.

* Heard a report that the Nevada Check-Up program has approved applications of more than 3,500 children of low-income families and is ready to start Oct. 1. Assemblywoman Sandi Krenzer, D-Las Vegas, told Administrator Chris Thompson the sign-up numbers were "deplorable and embarrassing," adding they represented only about 10 percent of those eligible.

Thompson disagreed, saying California in its first month had only 5,000 children enrolled in its program. He said he expected a lot more applications once the program gets under way. The program requires parents to pay a quarterly insurance premium ranging from $10 to $50 depending on their income.