Gore sends e-mail note reiterating Yucca stance

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000 | 9:34 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said presidential hopeful and friend Al Gore has released new evidence for Nevada voters to cast a vote for the Democrat in November.

"One of the problems I am having in this election is why anyone in the state of Nevada would vote for George W. Bush." Reid said. "What more do the people of the state of Nevada need?"

Political posturing on the nuclear waste issue continued as Nevada's congressional Democrats on Wednesday excitedly unveiled a new prize: an e-mail-delivered letter from Gore to Reid reiterating his stance on nuclear waste storage.

At issue is the future of a 13-year-old proposal to ship the nation's nuclear waste, now stockpiled on-site at 103 nuclear power reactors nationwide, to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Nevada Democrats and Republicans both say their presidential candidate will approve or disapprove the plan based on whether scientists approve it.

But Gore's letter went out on two limbs George W. Bush has yet to brave, Democrats said.

First, Gore backs Environmental Protection Agency safety rules regulating waste burial at Yucca Mountain. Those strict standards could be a "showstopper" for the federal proposal. Leading Republicans in Congress have said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's looser safety standards should apply.

"In a decision of this sort, we need to pay the utmost heed to providing the right kind of scientific consideration of the public's interest by preserving the EPA's current role," Gore's letter said.

Second, Gore said he would veto the same bill vetoed by President Clinton this year, a bill that would have brought nuclear waste to Nevada earlier than a 2010 target completion date for Yucca.

"You have my commitment in opposing such legislation in the future as the nation seeks a safe and permanent solution to the issue of nuclear waste disposal," Gore's letter said.

Reid released the letter, joined by Sen. Richard Bryan, Rep. Shelley Berkley, Reid's son and Nevada Democratic Party chairman Rory Reid, as well as Senate candidate Ed Bernstein, at a press conference in a skybox above the Staples Center convention floor.

Bryan summed up the comments: "The contrast (between Bush and Gore) could not be more stark and profound."

Nevada Republicans pointed out that Gore had hardly condemned the Yucca plan.

After the press conference, Reid agreed Gore was not guaranteeing he could spare Nevada a nuclear waste dump fate.

"What he has said is wait and see what the scientists say about it," Reid said. "What we're saying is leave (waste) on-site, but they (Gore's campaign) haven't gone that far."

The Democrats said Bush would rush to ship waste to Nevada, although the Texas governor has said he would consult with fellow Republicans Rep. Jim Gibbons and Gov. Kenny Guinn, who knows Bush.

Gore's letter was "politically motivated," Gibbons said.

Gibbons was quick to issue a statement Wednesday: "Al Gore's comments prove that he is willing to say or do anything to get elected."