Reid wants nuke chief out

Benjamin Grove and Cy Ryan

Thursday, March 2, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid on Wednesday told Gov. Kenny Guinn that he wants the state's oversight director of the Yucca Mountain project transferred out of the job.

But Guinn said he is "sticking with Bob Loux."

The conversation about the sometimes controversial director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects arose in a private meeting among several members of Nevada's congressional delegation, the governor, aides, key lobbyists and Loux, participants said. Guinn was in Washington to attend the National Governors' Association meeting, which ended Tuesday.

At one point Reid, D-Nev., made it clear to Guinn and Loux that key members of the House do not like Loux, in part because 1996 and 1998 audits concluded Loux misspent funds. As a consequence, federal money for the Nevada office has dried up.

Loux denies misspending money.

The federal government had given Nevada about $75 million since 1982 for Yucca oversight, but Congress greatly decreased money flowing to Loux's office beginning in 1995. The state office received $500,000 in federal funds for support this fiscal year, which ends in October.

Some key House members charge that Loux spent his federal money on propaganda against the federal proposal to bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Nevada officials, including Loux, oppose the proposal.

It's Loux's job to keep tabs on the U.S. Department of Energy's studies at Yucca Mountain and the department's evolving plan to bury waste there.

"I said I can't get any more money for the state from the federal government while he remains the director," Reid, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said after the meeting. "I don't want anybody blaming me for not getting more money. We get the money in the Senate, and the House strips it away."

Reid said he told Guinn that if the governor wanted to see more money for Loux's office, Loux should be transferred to another post.

Reid added, "I like Bob Loux. He does a great job."

Loux declined comment on Reid's statements.

"The governor said all there needs to be said," said Loux, who has headed the agency since its inception in 1983.

Guinn said Wednesday night there may be a way to convince Congress to send more money without removing Loux. He met on Wednesday afternoon with Rep. Ron Packard, R-Calif., chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on energy, which oversees Yucca money. The two discussed a compromise.

"He said he needs reassurance that we will spend the money directly on research," the Republican governor said. "I came to him and said I will be responsible. I am the governor. He (loux) works for me. My credibility would be on the line. He works very well with me. Every letter that goes out goes through me."

Guinn said he is optimistic Congress would loosen the purse strings, if only a little.

"We'll get something," Guinn said. "They've got budget constraints, too."

Sen. Richard Bryan and Rep. Shelley Berkley, both D-Nev., said they were surprised Reid suggested Loux's ouster. Bryan, who as governor appointed Loux to the post in 1983, said Loux's institutional memory was invaluable.

"The problem is not Bob Loux. The problem is the Republicans in the House who are pro-nuke dump who want that dump in Nevada," Bryan said. "And it's been very frustrating for them that Nevada has been so successful in thwarting this proposal for so many years."

"We need to concentrate on fighting the enemy, and the enemy is not Bob Loux," Berkley said. "The Republican leadership will do everything they can to derail Nevada's ability to defend itself."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., supports Guinn backing Loux, he said. Gibbons said he also has spoken to Packard about sending more money to the Nevada office.

Benjamin Grove covers Washington, D.C., for the Sun. He can be reached at (202) 628-3100, ext. 269 or by e-mail at benjamingrove@yahoo.com