Goodman insists he’s against nuke dump

Thursday, June 1, 2000 | 11:19 a.m.

Opponents of proposals to store the nation's high-level nuclear waste in Nevada say they are not concerned that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman fears the dump is a "done deal."

The mayor was quoted as saying at a Southern Nevada Regional Planning Commission meeting last week that "if we can't do anything about it, if in fact it is going to be there, we can get a lot of dollars from the federal government."

But Goodman said Wednesday he would be shocked by anyone who suggests he is anything but an ardent foe of proposals to ship nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. He said the last thing he wants is to hurt Nevada's fight against the proposed dump.

"When I came on board, I was the first mayor, I think in history, to go up to Yucca Mountain and tour the area," Goodman said. "I said that day that it's outrageous to even suggest that it be used as a repository. It's on an earthquake fault, and it's not suitable."

Goodman is not the first local politician to suggest Nevada may want to gain economic benefits should Yucca Mountain be selected by Congress and the president as the waste repository. But he has the highest profile.

State Sens. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, and Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, are among a minority of Nevada politicians who have made similar suggestions.

The Nevada Republican Party last week stated its opposition to nuclear waste storage in Nevada but added that should the dump be approved, fees should be paid to Nye County and an oversight committee should be formed to advise Nevada on nuclear-related health and safety factors.

After Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., read about the mayor's remarks to the regional planning commission as reported by Sun columnist Jon Ralston Wednesday, she telephoned Goodman for clarification.

"The mayor reaffirmed he is absolutely, totally opposed to Yucca Mountain," Berkley spokesman Michael O'Donovan said. "He is resolute. He is firm. According to what the mayor told the congresswoman, there is no change in his position."

That impression was shared by Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev. Reid said it is clear to him that Goodman remains opposed to the dump.

"Oscar would be the last person to ever consider negotiating with the Department of Energy," Reid said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also was among those who said he didn't believe Goodman's remarks would hurt the state, though he added that dump proponents are looking for signs that Nevada is "weakening its resolve."

"It's not going to change Nevada's opposition to nuclear waste," Gibbons said. "The federal government also is under no obligation to pay Nevada to store nuclear waste here. They don't have to commit to the bargaining table if they don't want to.

"I listen to my constituents, and my constituents are adamantly opposed to nuclear waste coming here."

Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said that during a conversation with Goodman about a month ago the mayor reiterated his opposition to the dump proposal. Loux said he found it "hard to believe" that Goodman would cave in on the dump issue.

"I'd be pretty surprised," Loux said. "I believe he's a firm opponent. It sounds as though he was just posing a hypothetical question."

Loux, in fact, said Goodman told him the Las Vegas City Council was planning to reaffirm its commitment to join the state in opposition to nuclear waste shipments to Nevada. The mayor created a city law making it illegal to transport nuclear waste through city limits.

"I will be out there myself trying to arrest these people," Goodman said.

The mayor said his remarks before the regional planning commission were simply an extension of his prior statements about Yucca Mountain.

"It's the same speech, but I added that as soon as we are dead in the water, we have to exact a very heavy price from Washington," Goodman said. "I'm not conceding anything. If in fact there comes a time that Washington beats us on this, we better exact a very huge price for it."

All four members of Nevada's congressional delegation and practically all of the state's other top politicians are staunch opponents of a Yucca Mountain dump. They say nuclear waste storage would be hazardous to Nevadans because of uncertainty about the mountain's geologic stability and because there are nuclear waste transportation risks.

Dump opponents usually are quick to ostracize Nevadans who suggest the state ought to negotiate for benefits, because that can be perceived as a sign of weakness in the state's battle against the dump.

Congress in 1987 designated Yucca Mountain as the lone site to be studied for a potential repository, but the state's congressional delegation so far has succeeded at stalling dump plans.

Both Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and her predecessor, Brian McKay, have said that the state cannot bargain for money while Yucca Mountain is studied without signaling to Congress that Nevada is willing to accept the repository.

Reid said New Mexico is still waiting for the DOE to pay for promised roads in connection with the Waste Isolation Pilot Project near Carlsbad, N.M., which accepts plutonium from Defense Department activities.

"You can either be a whore or not, and we choose not to be," Reid said.

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