Reid: Nuke study ‘common sense’

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

The startling new report detailing the risks of transporting high-level nuclear waste through the Las Vegas Valley further illustrates why the hazardous material should be kept out of Nevada, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, said Wednesday.

"This study confirms what common sense always has told us -- the more material you ship through an area the higher the chance of an accident that will spill the material in that area," Reid said Wednesday.

According to the report, commissioned by the city of North Las Vegas, chances are 1 in 90 that a nuclear accident will occur in the valley within 24 years if high-level nuclear waste is taken through the Las Vegas Beltway on the way to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The study, conducted by Lewis Berger & Associates, assumes that 50,000 shipments of high-level waste will travel along the still incomplete northern leg of the Las Vegas Beltway, which runs through North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, and Clark County.

Yucca Mountain is the only site being studied for a dump to store 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste from commercial nuclear power plants and defense activities. If approved, it is forecast to open in 2010.

Gasps could be heard throughout the room Wednesday as Roger Patton, vice president of Lewis Berger & Associates, told the North Las Vegas City Council there could be up to three accidents over a 24-year period, based on traffic statistics and the Department of Energy's environmental impact statement.