State kicks DOE out of hearing site

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001 | 9:45 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- A state official who opposes the Yucca Mountain project barred the Department of Energy from hosting a public hearing at the Capitol regarding the proposed nuclear waste repository.

Scott Sisco, acting director of the state Cultural Affairs Department, which has authority over the historic and tiny Supreme Court chambers, said in a letter to the DOE on Tuesday that he was canceling authorization to use the room, which is on the second floor of the Capitol.

"We do not feel the space would be an appropriate venue for these hearings in light of the potential size of the audience, the workload for Capitol Police and the proximity of the offices of our constitutional officers," Sisco said.

Sisco said he was concerned about crowd control and safety issues.

"We were disinvited," said Steve Brocoum, assistant manager of the office of license and regulatory compliance for the Energy Department.

The action to bar the DOE was taken on the advice and with the consent of the office of Gov. Kenny Guinn. Michael Hillerby, assistant chief of staff for Guinn, said Sisco called the governor's office for assistance. Hillerby said the governor's office recommended against holding the hearing in the small room and agreed with Sisco.

The hearing was moved to a second floor meeting room in Carson City's Nugget casino, and only a handful of people showed up during the first hour of the hearing.

Jim Roberts, a retired University of Nevada, Reno, professor, testified in favor of opening Yucca Mountain, saying that 77,000 tons of nuclear waste is now stored at about 70 sites around the country.

These locations, he said, "are poorly protected against terrorism. A central storage of spent fuel rods would provide far fewer terrorist targets, and the central storage could be more easily protected.

"Decentralization of nuclear waste increases our vulnerability to accidents and sabotage," he said.

Herman Mende of Carson City said the dump would become a major target for terrorists, adding that an explosion would mean the release of radiation, which would be active 300 to 400 years.

Referring to nuclear waste, Mende, said, "It's the dirty little dog you can't clean up. You can't clean up after it."

Ed Silsby of Carson City suggested that the nuclear waste be dumped on Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. He said, "Forty nine other states want to dump on Nevada." And he said he would lie across the road to stop shipments of nuclear waste.

Six teams of Energy Department officials and consultants will conduct public hearings concerning the repository during the next couple of weeks.