Public urged to attend panel discussion on Yucca

Friday, Nov. 23, 2001 | 9:26 a.m.

State and Clark County officials are soliciting comments from Southern Nevada residents at a special panel discussion on a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The forum is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the County Government Center Commission Chambers, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.

State and county officials will include public comments from the event in a final report to the Department of Energy due on Dec. 14. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham extended the public comment period on the repository proposal for 30 days earlier this month.

The DOE, manager of the repository program, is expected to recommend Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, in the next few months to President Bush. The Yucca plan has not been approved by the president, Congress or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera and Commissioner Myrna Williams urged residents to attend the hearing, moderated by former Sen. Richard Bryan.

"I think it's important that the people who live here have a chance to comment and get legitimate information," Williams, a foe of the repository project, said.

In addition to the commissioners, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. will attend. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., will appear by video hookup. State Sen. Mark James and Bob Loux, director of the state Agency for Nuclear Projects, are participating.

Fred Dilger of the county's Nuclear Waste Division said he plans to talk about the terrorist threat to nuclear waste shipments en route to a proposed repository. State and county studies are under way on a potential threat from a terrorist attack on a container in transit, a possibility that was taken more seriously after Sept. 11, he said.

Public participants who plan to attend include Paul Brown of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, or PLAN, and Steve Cloobeck, a Las Vegas businessman spearheading a grass-roots effort called SAVE NEVADA.