Ensign vows to lobby for alternative to nuke waste dump

Monday, April 24, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

U.S. Senate hopeful John Ensign, hoping to defuse a potentially volatile issue in his campaign, said if elected he would lobby fellow Republicans to consider an alternative to a nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

"We're going to come up with a solution that works, the kind of solution I'll take to the Senate and fight every day for," Ensign told about 125 people Saturday at the Clark County Republican Convention.

Acknowledging congressional momentum for a repository at Yucca Mountain 110 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Ensign said he wants to change the debate.

The former congressman endorsed transmutation, a process that reduces toxicity of nuclear waste by bombarding it with neutrons from an atom smasher.

But the U.S. Department of Energy reported last year that even if transmutation is successful, a repository at Yucca Mountain still would be necessary.

Nuclear waste is looming as a key issue in Ensign's likely race against Demorat Ed Bernstein, a lawyer.

The state Democratic Party recently launched an ad campaign warning voters of overwhelming GOP congressional support for the Yucca Mountain dump.

Despite growing partisanship on the issue, Ensign predicted in an interview that "I'm going to be fine on this issue." He leads Bernstein by wide margins in polls.

Ryan Erwin, state GOP executive director, said the convention went smoothly and generated no major platform fights. It was adjourned before delegates could discuss the abortion issue.

"We hope the unity displayed at the convention is a prelude of what's to come" at the state GOP convention May 25-27 in Carson City, he said.