Yucca decision could aid UNLV research

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

UNLV officials didn't dare to speculate Tuesday about any financial benefits the $58 billion Yucca Mountain project could bring to the university, but they did say expansion of the school's research facilities is likely.

"I'm not going to say that UNLV would benefit from Yucca Mountain. That would be highly imprudent," said Ray Alden, University of Nevada, Las Vegas provost. "We are available as a resource, but we can't be a free resource."

Tuesday's Senate vote approved Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste repository. As the dump moves forward -- through both the regulatory process and the legal battle -- there are scientific questions that will be need to be answered.

And where there are scientific questions, there is research -- and research money.

"As they continue to move forward with the project, there will be more and more questions and the university will more than likely do a lot of the research," said Jean Cline, a UNLV geology professor who studies Yucca Mountain.

Cline pointed out a number of questions relating to Yucca. For example, the mountain's rock formations -- originally thought to be a barrier against nuclear radiation -- are believed to be leaky, she said.

There are also concerns about seismic and volcanic activity in the area -- although a magnitude-4.4 earthquake that hit last month 12 miles southeast of the site caused no damage, according to Energy Department scientists.

"The reality is, the more you study this, the more you become aware of the limits of it," Cline said.

One scientist at UNLV's Harry Reid Environmental Center believes a big impact on the university is inevitable due to the massive project.

"Four to five years from now, I think you're going to see a noticeable change in the university community," said Gary Cerefice, a research scientist at the environmental center. "You'll start seeing new professors coming on board. You're going to see the new science and engineering building moved higher and higher up on the list of priorities for (legislative) funding."

UNLV's $75 million science and engineering complex is considered a state-of-the-art facility capable of drawing world-class scientists.

A spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the senator already supports university research and that the Yucca decision won't bring extra benefits to the state.

"Basically, there is no windfall in this for Nevada," Reid's spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. "A significant amount of that money already comes from the senator's position on the Senate Appropriation Committee, and he will continue to make sure that Nevada's universities have enough money for research."

One project that Reid supports is UNLV's Advanced Accelerator Transmutation Project, in which scientists are working to find a way to drastically reduce radiation levels in waste headed for Yucca Mountain.

The price tag for a prototype -- to which several other organizations will contribute -- is estimated at $11 billion over 20 years, almost as much as the controversial Star Wars missile defense system.

Research projects for Yucca Mountain are already bringing in money to institutions throughout the state's university system. UNLV has already received $6.7 million for Yucca Mountain-related research. About $11.2 million in grants has gone to the University of Nevada, Reno, along with $2 million to the Desert Research Institute.

While lawmakers work out the politics of Yucca and lawyers work out the legal issues, Alden and colleagues such as DRI President Stephen Wells say they will let the research dollars fall where they may.

"Even though the political side is done, I'm not sure that the legal side is done," Alden said. "As an institution we just can't say we are gearing up to handle Yucca Mountain. That just wouldn't be wise."