Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.
The state of Nevada and six counties are seeking federal funds to equip and train emergency crews to respond to accidents involving low-level radioactive waste on the way to the Nevada Test Site.
The Department of Energy is considering the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as a regional repository for thousands of shipments of low-level radioactive wastes from the cleanup of nuclear weapons production at DOE sites across the country. A decision was due last year but was delayed in Washington.
After Gov. Kenny Guinn took office he met with DOE Secretary Bill Richardson and struck an agreement between the state and DOE to help Nevadans prepare for radioactive accidents if shipments begin, Nevada Emergency Management Director Frank Siracusa said Wednesday.
The state's Emergency Management Division will visit the counties, including Clark, Nye, Lincoln, Esmeralda, White Pine and Elko, to assess their needs and estimate the costs for preparing to respond to accidents.
"It's a more proactive role by the state," Siracusa said.
The counties will decide how to use the DOE's funding, if it is available next year, Siracusa said. Either the counties will work with the state Emergency Response Commission to set the agenda, or form a coalition, he said.
State officials began meeting with the DOE this week.
One problem local governments affected by radioactive waste shipments have fought is a lack of coordination, Clark County Nuclear Waste Division Director Dennis Bechtel said.
"Anything that can be done will help," he said.
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