Editorial: State finds itself at a crossroads

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001 | 9:51 a.m.

Historians in this state may one day look back on 2001 as the pivotal year that decided the fate of a nuclear waste repository targeted for Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The biggest wild card is the inauguration of a new president, Republican George W. Bush, and how he will deal with the GOP-controlled Congress, which in recent years has tried to send the nation's nuclear waste here, only to be stymied time and again by President Clinton's opposition.

Bush issued statements during the campaign stressing that he would treat Nevada fairly, but so far he has not given this state's residents much optimism. This is the same man who nominated a secretary of energy, former Republican Michigan Sen. Spencer Abraham, who is a bosom buddy of the nuclear power industry. Gov. Kenny Guinn, an ardent supporter of Bush during the campaign, had a chance over the weekend to reiterate his concerns about storing nuclear waste in Nevada to the president-elect. Guinn, who attended the gathering with 19 other governors, said he raised the issue but didn't have the time to elaborate on the state's opposition.

Sure, Bush is known as someone who doesn't want to get immersed in the details of issues, and prefers delegating matters to advisers. But the next time Guinn gets the chance to meet with Bush he should use that opportunity to buttonhole Bush, letting him know just how shabbily Nevada continues to be treated on this issue. For starters, the new administration should take a close look at an independent scientific board's criticism of the proposed repository. The year-end report to Congress and to the secretary of energy by the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board found that there still are too many unanswered questions in the safe design of a repository. Bush and Abraham also should remind themselves of candidate Bush's professed desire to provide states with a greater voice in federal matters. Such a campaign pledge would suggest, in turn, that Nevada shoul d be given a say in whether it wants to store the nation's nuclear waste.

Meanwhile, here at home, Stephen Cloobeck, who runs a company that operates time-share condominium projects on the Strip, is trying to further mobilize opposition to a repository. Public opinion polls have consistently shown unified opposition to a repository, but many business leaders and gaming industry officials have taken a pass over the years in getting involved in the fight. One reason for the hesitance is that they fear offending powerful members of Congress who hold sway over gaming-specific issues. Unfortunately this short-sighted view doesn't adequately take into account the fact that if a repository is built here, it could have devastating consequences. Any accident at Yucca Mountain could scare visitors away, the lifeblood of our economy. Businesses not tied to gaming also could be hurt if a repository is built, which could significantly lowe r property values.

Nevada is at a crossroads on an issue that could affect the health and safety of its residents. Political pressure by the nuclear power industry already has unfairly injected itself into the process, which has singled out Nevada to be the only state studied by the federal government for a repository. It's inexcusable, then, that the gaming industry hasn't flexed its muscles in trying to derail this plan to send such deadly waste to an unsafe location. In much the same vein, it also will be interesting to see if Bush, as Clinton did, has the mettle to stand up to the influential nuclear-power lobby and its GOP friends in Congress.