Legislators preparing measure of Yucca disapproval

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A resolution stating the Nevada Legislature's official disapproval of the proposed nuclear dumpsite at Yucca Mountain is scheduled to be introduced in the Senate today.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said it was important the Bush administration gets the message Nevada doesn't want the radioactive repository.

The resolution has been signed by every senator except Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas. Although pushed by Democrats, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have signed the measure urging the president to veto legislation to locate a temporary or interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Nevada. It also urges the Bush administration to abandon consideration of Yucca Mountain as a permanent dumpsite.

The resolution states that the federal government is prohibited from locating the repository without the Legislature's prior expressed consent. The resolution documents the "official disapproval" of any action by Congress.

Titus on Monday said the administration is discussing the production of additional nuclear power to combat the energy crisis afflicting parts of the nation. She said the issue regarding disposal of the nuclear waste must first be answered.

Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, a notice of disapproval would require that Yucca Mountain be withdrawn from further consideration unless overridden by a majority of Congress.

According to the resolution, "Congress and the commercial nuclear power industry continue to ignore the reality that neither Yucca Mountain nor the Nevada Test Site are suitable locations for storing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste ..."

The resolution states the Department of Energy "continues to make unfounded and biased assumptions" about the suitability of Yucca Mountain "despite mountain scientific evidence that there are serious flaws at the site ..."