Miffed majority leader blocks funding for Yucca consultant over letter

Thursday, June 15, 2000 | 2 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio persuaded legislators not to pay for a consultant in the nuclear waste fight because he did not like a letter the man sent to newspapers last year.

Though the Interim Finance Committee agreed to let Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa spend $90,000 to develop a legal and scientific case for why nuclear waste should not be sent to Nevada, it was $16,000 less than what Del Papa requested.

Del Papa planned to use the additional money to hire former Deputy Attorney General Harry Swainston to help prepare the case.

Before his retirement in 1998, Swainston was the longtime adviser to the Agency for Nuclear Projects, the state agency that has campaigned against the nuclear repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The Department of Energy wants to ship more than 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain.

But Raggio said he would not back the proposal because he objected to a letter Swainston sent to newspapers in June 1999.

"It was a stupid letter," said Raggio, R-Reno. "I personally don't appreciate your attitude. You are a poor choice for us to fund anything."

Swainston apologized, saying he was angry at the time and vented his frustrations.

In the letter, Swainston accused Raggio of killing a bill that would have appropriated money for the attorney general to conduct Yucca Mountain studies.

"Is this (Raggio's) way of coming out of the closet as a staunch repository advocate like some other members on the committee?" Swainston asked in the letter to the editor.

Raggio said the Legislature did approve some Yucca Mountain funding and the bill was rejected because lawmakers had to set funding priorities.

Assistant Attorney General Tom Patton pleaded for Raggio to reconsider. He said the office is on the verge of a breakthrough that will keep nuclear waste out of Nevada.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, and other legislators, while sympathizing with Raggio, said the project was important.

"The chair feels deeply about the offense," Coffin said. "I don't want to hurt the project because of one individual."

The committee agreed Wednesday to fund the project, minus the money that would have paid Swainston's fees.

Del Papa said she was dismayed by Raggio's reaction, saying it was critical to have Swainston, a man with 20 years of experience in nuclear issues, on her team.