Guinn seeks support against Yucca

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 9:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn called on governors in nine states where nuclear power plants are located to join him in opposing Yucca Mountain as a burial site for high-level radioactive waste.

"While I am not unsympathetic to the very legitimate concern you face having nuclear waste stored in your state, we should not rush headlong into placing that waste in an inferior site," Guinn said in the letter, referring to the proposed dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Guinn complained that the Nuclear Energy Institute has started a massive advertising campaign to convince Congress and the Bush administration that the Nevada site was safe after 20 years of studies.

The governor said there has been a pile of reports by the Department of Energy, but he suggested the governors read a preliminary site suitability evaluation released last July by the agency.

The report said rain or snow could seep into the repository and corrode the metal packages that contain the nuclear waste. The water could then transport this radioactive material into the water table.

"If you find it acceptable that the citizens of Nevada be exposed to nuclear waste contamination through the water table," Guinn wrote, "than I suppose the statements in the NEI advertisement can be justified.

"However, it is far more likely that the NEI has failed to explain the true status of the Yucca Mountain project."

The governor's letter was prompted by advertisements in Washington news publications with a headline, "Governors Agree." He said he cannot disagree more with the NEI.

The letters went to governors of Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vermont.

Guinn said it may be 15 years before any of these states could ship its nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, if the Energy Department ever found it suitable.

As a short-term solution, Guinn cited an example in Pennsylvania. He said the Energy Department has negotiated an agreement with PECO energy to take title to waste at its Pennsylvania reactor and assume the liability for the spent fuel.

The governors, Guinn said, should demand Congress reassess the nuclear waste program for a long-term solution.

"The goal should be to assure the safety of spent fuel at reactor sites immediately, develop technology to dramatically reduce the quantity of waste and locate a suitable long-term disposal option thereby assuring that nuclear power has a viable future as an energy source."