Nevada’s anti-Yucca fight gets boost in Congress

Erin Neff and Benjamin Grove

Monday, March 25, 2002 | 9:22 a.m.

State leaders have long said a key to their anti-Yucca Mountain strategy is to publicize risks associated with transporting waste, especially after the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes.

Now a powerful ally in Washington has given the state a forum to tell the rest of the nation of those dangers -- and possibly sway some senators -- with a congressional hearing on transportation concerns.

U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, said Friday he has scheduled a May 9 hearing before his 75-member Transportation Committee, based on concerns he has repeatedly heard from U.S. Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Young also said for the first time that "I'll probably vote with Jim Gibbons" when the House of Representatives is handed Gov. Kenny Guinn's expected veto of the president's Yucca decision -- about as close to a commitment from a pro-nuke Republican as Nevada's delegation can hope for.

"They've convinced me that this is something we have to look at," Young said. "A lot of states aren't aware that this is happening."

The daylong hearing will include testimony from Gibbons, Berkley and congressional candidate Jon Porter, a Republican state senator.

"This changes the whole picture in terms of Nevada's fight," Gibbons said Friday. "No one else has ever offered to hold a hearing. This is something that I think really, truly is a positive step."

Porter said transportation is the "dirty, little secret of Yucca Mountain," and he hoped the hearing provides a boost in the state fight's "final hours."

After Guinn vetoes President Bush's recommendation -- expected in early April -- Congress has 90 legislative days to override the governor. The House of Representatives already has enough stated support to override Guinn, but Nevada could pick up enough votes to block the dump in the U.S. Senate.

John Podesta, chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton and one of Nevada's Yucca lobbyists, said transportation will be a key part of the state's lobbying strategy.

Berkley reiterated that point when she released a video last week showing a missile charge blowing a hole in a cast-iron nuclear waste container. The congresswoman said the video raises important questions about terrorist risks, although critics say the video is flawed in part because the container is not used in this country for shipping waste and is weaker than U.S.-certified steel containers.

The video was produced by a private company to tout a concrete-compound, cask-protection product.

Meanwhile, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has requested information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates waste containers. Reid wants to know more about how containers are tested and certified.

"Congress has a responsibility to ensure the public is not put in danger," Reid said. "Hauling high-level nuclear waste across our country presents a very real threat to thousands of communities along the shipment routes."

Nuclear industry experts say Nevada leaders are unnecessarily trying to scare people in order to drum up opposition to the proposed nuclear waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Even as Nevada lobbyists spin their message, industry lobbyists are assuring lawmakers that shipping waste is safe.

A video produced by the Nuclear Energy Institute, "An American Success Story: The Safe Shipment of Used Nuclear Fuel," states that waste shipping is a careful, sophisticated process that employs "super-strong shipping containers," extensive government and industry planning and strict regulation.

The video, targeted to media and community leaders nationwide, stresses that about 3,000 shipments of high-level waste have been made over 1.7 million miles in the United States since 1964 with no radiation releases.

"This record of safety is unparalleled when compared to other hazardous materials transportation shipments, industry consultant Eileen Supko says in the video.

During Young's Transportation Committee hearing, the industry will get to present arguments like those after Nevada's representatives testify. After the industry's presentation, lawmakers will get to ask questions before scientists testify.

Nevada's presentation will include information about alternatives to Yucca Mountain, including reprocessing the waste either by transmutation or by a new method Gibbons is touting that uses thorium fuel.

Young said he thinks Nevada could suggest the waste be shipped out of the country, perhaps to Russia which is testing several reprocessing approaches.

Gibbons said the hearing will be "just another one of our educational opportunities."

"You never know about the issue," Gibbons said. "Members who have never approached this issue will get our information."