Editorial: Radiation standards under fire

Thursday, March 8, 2001 | 9:40 a.m.

The Bush administration is just getting its sea legs, but full-court pressure already has begun to get the Environmental Protection Agency to gut its radiation and ground water standards for a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Recently officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy, which act as if they're nothing more than cheerleaders for the nuclear power lobby, met with EPA officials to seek a lowering of this critical health and safety standard. The nuclear power lobby has long argued that the tougher standard could make it too costly to build a repository, which is why it has fought the EPA's tougher rules first advocated by the Clinton administration.

The new EPA administrator, Christie Whitman, has assured Gov. Kenny Guinn that she wants the EPA to set the standard, something that state officials and Nevada's congressional delegation have long urged. But the DOE and NRC's meeting with EPA officials is disturbing, and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was right on target in notifying President Bush about her concerns.

When Democrat Bill Clinton was president, there never was any doubt that not only would the EPA stick to its guns in advocating tougher standards, but that it also would have the support of the White House in fending off challenges to its authority. What is worrisome is that the new Republican president has extensive ties to the nuclear power industry, and there are concerns he might order the EPA to draft weakened radiation standards for Yucca Mountain, essentially allowing them to be ghostwritten by the nuclear power lobby.

It's still early in her tenure, but so far Whitman has shown that she can resist industry efforts to weaken environmental rules. For instance, Whitman upheld a clean air rule initiated by her predecessor, Carol Browner, that aims to reduce pollution from diesel-powered trucks and buses by at least 90 percent. Oil producers and refiners wanted her to relax the rules, which they say will be costly for them. Now it will be interesting to see if her boss, the president, has the same fortitude on the issue of Yucca Mountain. This is much more than a turf war between federal agencies. This is an issue that could very well decide whether a repository -- which if built would threaten the safety of Nevadans -- gets a green light.