Perkins seeks anti-Yucca support

Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002 | 10:14 a.m.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins is hoping to chip away support for Yucca Mountain one state at a time.

Perkins, D-Henderson, sent a letter to the speakers of the 49 other state legislatures urging them to oppose Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's recommendation to store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste at the mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"I think it's part of the Yucca Mountain battle we haven't explored yet," Perkins said. "Particularly in light of the tragic events of 9-11, it's easier to protect and control this material on site than it is transporting it all over the country."

Perkins said he hopes he can convince one state legislature at a time that transportation concerns outweigh any benefit an individual state may receive shipping nuclear waste to Nevada.

"This is Nevada's issue today, but it could be Missouri's or Florida's or any other state's down the road," Perkins said.

Perkins wrote that an estimated 96,000 shipments of waste will travel through 43 states over the next 24 to 30 years, putting populated areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Atlanta at risk of an accident or a terrorist attack.

As a member of the executive committee of the National Speakers Conference, Perkins said he has learned how much clout speakers of the house can have in their individual states.

A speaker of the house could convince a legislature, or even the congressional delegation from a particular state, to oppose Yucca Mountain, he said. His letter urges speakers to consider passage of resolutions in their legislatures and to send letters to President George Bush and Congress.

Perkins couched the issue as a states' rights issue.

"This is Nevada's problem today," Perkins wrote. "Federal steamrolling over the rights of your constituents, threatening their health or economic well-being, could be next.""