Las Vegas now a nuclear-free zone

Erin Neff

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas was officially declared a nuclear-free zone on Wednesday in a symbolic gesture aimed more at Washington, D.C., than the trucks already transporting low-level radioactive waste through the city.

Last month's fiery crash of a tanker truck carrying fuel on Interstate 15 blackened the sky and prompted the fearful question: "What if this had been nuclear waste?"

That headline from the Sun and the dramatic photos of the crash prompted numerous calls to City Hall, according to Lesa Coder, the city's director of Business Development.

"People wanted to know if we could do anything," Coder said. "This is adding one more symbol of protest."

The resolution approved Wednesday declares the city a nuclear-free zone and adds another voice to the chorus from Nevada telling U.S. Department of Energy officials that this state doesn't want a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, just 90 miles northwest of the city.

"Each and every one of us is committed to keep this junk out of here," Mayor Oscar Goodman said.

But Goodman didn't intend the resolution to be merely symbolic. He asked City Attorney Brad Jerbic whether it could be tied to a previous resolution making it a misdemeanor crime to transport high-level nuclear waste inside the Las Vegas city limits.

That resolution, which was approved 6-1 by the council in February, was later determined unconstitutional by Deputy District Attorney Mary-Anne Miller when she was asked for an opinion on Goodman's measure by the Clark County Commission.

Goodman stands by both his original ordinance and the new resolution.

"We can't do enough to tell Washington to keep it out of here," he said.

Goodman said he was troubled after a recent meeting with North Las Vegas officials who told him that a small amount of radiation is emitted from the trucks carrying the waste, even if there are no leaks.

"This is serious business," Goodman said.

Susanne Snyder of the Shundahai Network said that while she was not sure the resolution would be able to keep nuclear waste out of the city, she applauded the council's action.

"It does show public support to keep this nuclear material off our streets," said Snyder, whose organization fights the transportation and storage of nuclear waste in Nevada. "Go for it."