Nuke panel urges state to veto Yucca rulings

Friday, Dec. 15, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.

The Commission on Nuclear Projects today recommended that the Nevada Legislature adopt a resolution to veto any congressional decision to make Yucca Mountain a high-level nuclear waste repository.

The Department of Energy is not expected to recommend the mountain as the nation's permanent tomb for 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste until summer, when the Legislature will be out of session.

The resolution from the Nevada Legislature would set the stage for Gov. Kenny Guinn to veto a nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain if and when the DOE recommends the site.

The commission met in Las Vegas today and outlined its recommendations on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear repository, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, in preparation for a written report to the Legislature meeting in February.

By law the state chosen as the site of a high-level nuclear waste repository may object to the DOE and the president, sending a veto of the federal action if Yucca is declared scientifically sound, said Agency for Nuclear Projects Director Bob Loux.

It will take an act of Congress to overcome the state's veto, Loux said.

The commission, headed by former Attorney General Brian McKay, is also interested in funding a national advertising campaign against shipping spent nuclear fuel to Yucca.

The commission decided to ask the governor and the Legislature for suggestions on raising funds through private and public means to support an ad campaign. The suggestions were not specific.

The commission also encouraged continued funding through state and federal sources for ongoing independent scientific studies by the Agency for Nuclear Projects. State consultants reported in September that a metal alloy the DOE intends to use for burying nuclear wastes crumbled in less than a month when exposed to ground water from Yucca Mountain.

Those studies on the metal and work on possible volcanic activity are most important for the state, Loux said.

The commission also urged the Legislature and the governor to reject any efforts at negotiating benefits for the state in return for accepting the nuclear repository.