Yucca research chief defends need for funds

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

The man in charge of Nevada's research on Yucca Mountain found himself before state legislators Monday defending his agency's need for $1 million in state funding.

For the first time ever, a state budget allots money for the Nevada Agency on Nuclear Projects. Gov. Kenny Guinn has asked for $1 million a year for the agency, which lost $5 million a year in federal money in 1996 after an audit charged that about $700,000 was misspent on public relations instead of scientific oversight.

The Legislature's Interim Finance Committee provided the agency $600,000 in emergency funds last year to keep it afloat through June 1.

Bob Loux, the agency's executive director, defended the need for the funds under some hostile questions from skeptical senators at a joint Senate Finance/Assembly Ways and Means hearing in Carson City Monday.

One legislator worried about finding nuclear waste oversight funds, given the state's $26 million shortfall discovered in January, when estimates for tax revenue fell short of expectations.

"We've got kids homeless, we have children needing foster care and we're looking to spend $1 million on this," Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, said.

O'Donnell interrupted Loux as he reviewed recent Department of Energy activities at Yucca Mountain and told him to provide to the details of the state's proposed study program.

The state agency plans to stick to scientific studies of Yucca Mountain, which is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, while elected officials handle political issues, Loux said. Guinn is holding a nuclear summit in Carson City today to address the political issues.

"I, personally, think you don't have a snowball's chance at Yucca Mountain," O'Donnell said. "We're going to wake up one morning, and the nuclear shipments will be rolling through."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, demanded a close watch on the state agency. If the agency's budget is approved, the Legislative Oversight Committee and the Executive Branch must keep a close watch on state nuclear waste activities.

Raggio said he considers it unfair that the state has not received federal funding for oversight activities for the 15 years Yucca Mountain has been under study. Congress has continued to send roughly $5 million a year to 10 affected counties, nine of them in Nevada and one in California.

If Congress restores federal oversight money to the state, Loux said, the agency will repay what has been spent from the state general fund.

Not all legislators were displeased with the agency's performance.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, praised the agency's work without benefit of the federal funds. "Not only have you handled the political and scientific issues, but this is an emotional issue as well," she said.

Loux outlined highlights of the budget at the hearing.

Some of the requested funds -- $165,000 -- will pay contractors to study:

How crystals formed inside Yucca Mountain. The crystals may have formed from geothermal water deep within the mountain.

Metal alloys suitable for containing the radioactive wastes for 750,000 years.

Basic health studies and socio-economic impacts.

Another $125,000 will examine water flows inside the mountain. The DOE has discovered that water moves through cracks in the mountain much faster than expected.

The proposal also calls for another $125,000 to continue the state's oversight of how Yucca Mountain's rocks behave in high heat.

To ensure the safety of people traveling Nevada's roads, Loux requested $400,000 through the state Department of Transportation to study highway conditions, accident rates and deaths from crashes.

The state funds also will pay for two new staff members for the agency, including a research analyst and a clerk. Eight personal computers need replacement and four office chairs are in the budget.