Friday, Feb. 15, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush was expected today to approve Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's strongly worded recommendation that a national nuclear waste dump be constructed at Yucca Mountain.
Abraham sent his recommendation to the White House last night. An Associated Press report this morning says an anonymous White House official said Bush will accept Abraham's recommendation today.
Gov. Kenny Guinn's office received a call from the White House this morning saying an announcement will be made at noon PST. Sources in the governor's office said they weren't told what the announcement would be, but feared Bush would approve the recommendation.
The White House would not confirm that an announcement had been scheduled. Spokesman Ari Fleischer this morning declined to say when Bush would act, but said that the president "has laid out a careful process to listen to and review the information." He said that started "even before (Abraham's) formal submission."
Another White House spokesman said Bush was ready to make a decision today.
"The president does have sufficient scientific data to make a decision," said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman who declined to say if Bush was going to endorse the project.
In the last 10 days, Bush has met with both Nevada leaders and Abraham in separate meetings.
In a letter to the president e-mailed last night, Abraham cited two decades of Energy Department research and said he believes the desert site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas is a safe place to permanently bury the nation's most radioactive waste.
"I have considered whether sound science supports the determination that the Yucca Mountain site is scientifically and technically suitable for the development of a repository," Abraham said. "I am convinced that it does."
Abraham said Yucca Mountain would have the "elements necessary to protect the health and safety of the public, including those Americans living in the immediate vicinity, now and in the future."
His action drew immediate criticism from Nevada officials, who were expecting Bush's decision before the president leaves for Asia Saturday.
Sen Harry Reid, D-Nev., took to the Senate floor just moments after Abraham sent his letter, toting a map showing proposed transportation routes across the United States. Reid urged caution from the one man who will now act on the Yucca project's fate.
"It's time for the president to fill the commitment he made to the country and the people of Nevada," Reid said. "The president should wait until he receives peer-reviewed science of the highest caliber.
"That science doesn't exist," he added.
Critics noted that Bush pledged during his presidential campaign to base the decision on "sound science."
Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., fired off a letter to Bush Thursday night urging him to delay action.
In a statement, Berkley said the president "has an obligation to reject the recommendation" and send it "back to the drawing board."
Abraham said he weighed "national compelling interests" in his decision, including security, environmental concerns and long-term energy goals.
Abraham noted that 161 million Americans live within 75 miles of nuclear waste storage sites nationwide.
"The facilities housing these materials were intended to do so on a temporary basis," Abraham said. "They should be able to withstand current terrorist threats, but that may not remain the case in the future. These materials would be far better secured in a deep underground repository at Yucca Mountain."
Nevada officials have argued a counterpoint: 50 million Americans in 43 states live along the highway and rail routes that would be used to haul waste to Nevada, putting them at risk of a terrorist strike. Nevada lawmakers stressed that point at a rally with anti-Yucca activists at the Capitol just hours before Abraham sent his letter.
"It is important to get this message all across this country," Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., told a crowd of roughly 50 protesters. "Let's keep this stuff right where it is."
Nevada officials have a strategy that now centers on the courts and Congress. They have filed lawsuits challenging the project and plan to file more, and they are lobbying Congress for an expected vote.
If Bush approves Yucca Mountain, Guinn said he will veto the decision, which will then send the issue to Congress.
Guinn, who will have 60 days to veto the president's decision, would not elaborate on his thoughts about Abraham's recommendation and would not say when he will act.
"I made my feelings known to President Bush last Thursday," Guinn said, reserving additional comment until after Bush's decision.
Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said Thursday the state is prepared to "immediately" file another suit against the Energy Department since that the agency's decision has been formally filed.
"We will file a legal challenge based on our belief that sound science proves that the site is unsuitable," Del Papa said. That suit could be filed as soon as today with Del Papa pledging to file another suit if Bush accepts the recommendation.
Even as the state's legal strategy was developing late Thursday, local leaders took to the airways to denounce Abraham's recommendation.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman convened a hastily-scheduled press conference urging residents to flood the White House with messages.
Goodman said the fight against Yucca is not over.
"I'm going to do everything I can as mayor to stop this including standing in front of the trucks," Goodman said. "It's not a done deal. I'd make us an 8-to-5 favorite, and I'll take all comers."
Goodman drafted a letter to the Nevada Resort Association on Wednesday asking the politically powerful group to have its member properties across the country pressure elected officials to come out against the proposed dump. Goodman also said he would continue to talk to mayors of 109 cities on the proposed routes for nuclear waste shipments.
"At the very, very least Abraham is ignorant and irresponsible," Goodman said. "In my opinion he has put the whole nation in danger. It's outrageous. I've called him a blockhead and a fat head before, but that's too good for him."
Nevada's Congressional delegation plans a bit more diplomatic approach to lure colleagues onto the state's side. After a Guinn veto, Congress would have 90 legislative days to override the governor's decision by a simply majority of both houses.
Although many believe the battle will be lost in the House, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., pledged last year the dump will be blocked if Democrats control the Senate -- which they now narrowly do.
In addition to the state's anticipated lawsuit against Abraham's decision, four other lawsuits are traveling through the courts in hopes of finding any legal remedy.
"All it takes is one to succeed and the dump's dead," said Robert Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.
In addition, state engineer Hugh Ricci has refused to extend the temporary water permit obtained by the Energy Department in its study of the site. That permit expires April 10, and Ricci's action will likely prompt yet another suit.
The Yucca site's suitability was the most important factor in Abraham's decision, Abraham said. He said waste could be safely isolated from the environment at Yucca Mountain relying on the site's remote location and geology, as well as man-made systems such as high-tech metal waste containers.
Nuclear energy officials and repository supporters praised the decision.
"It's important that the government continue to move forward on the Yucca Mountain project as long as science deems it prudent to do so," Nuclear Energy Institute President and CEO Joe Colvin said in a written statement. "It will help to ensure our national security so that future generations of Americans can continue to enjoy the energy, economic and clean-air benefits of nuclear energy."
The press office for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., this morning released a written statement from Hastert praising Bush for approving the Yucca site.
A Hastert spokesman said, "We jumped the gun. We don't expect (Bush) to make a decision until later this afternoon."
Sun reporter Jace Radke contributed to this article.
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