Poll says Americans are evenly divided on Yucca issue

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, March 26, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

Yucca poll

The Ipsos poll surveyed 1,000 people nationwide selected by computer using a random-digit dial, pollsters said. The poll found:

WASHINGTON -- Americans are evenly split in their opinion of Yucca Mountain, according to a new poll that Nevada officials believe will bolster their position in the fight against Yucca Mountain.

A nationwide survey of 1,000 people found 47 percent supporting the nuclear waste project and 47 percent opposing it, but the poll showed the public has concern over the transportation of nuclear waste.

Nevada officials are trying to build national opposition to the project by publicizing the possible risks of transporting the waste through 43 states to Nevada.

Congress is expected to decide this year if the government should send 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain.

When the people surveyed were told nuclear waste could be shipped through their state, 61 percent said they were either "somewhat" or "much more likely" to oppose the Yucca project.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she noted that the poll runs counter to the assertion made by nuclear industry officials that the majority of the public outside Nevada supports Yucca Mountain.

Berkley said the poll confirms that people react negatively to the Yucca project based on the transportation issue.

"As long as this remains a Nevada issue, it remains off the radar screens of fellow Americans," Berkley said. "But when you begin to educate people about the risks of transportation, all of a sudden there is a heightened concern. People understand instinctively that nuclear waste is dangerous and they don't want it coming through their cities and towns."

The poll was taken March 14 to March 17 by Ipsos Public Affairs, an international polling company. The firm conducts weekly polls on a variety of topics. In an effort to drum up free publicity, Ipsos routinely attaches a few questions on news topics to its weekly polls and then distributes its results to media.

The poll has a margin of error or 3.1 percent.

When respondents were first asked their opinion on Yucca Mountain, 23 percent supported it; 24 opposed it. But Ipsos president Tom Riehle said 53 percent said they did not know about Yucca Mountain.

Riehle said many people nationwide are simply not familiar with the issue of nuclear waste.

Pollsters explained pros and cons of Yucca Mountain by declaring three statements commonly made against the project and three statements commonly made in favor of it. After hearing the six statements, 47 percent favored and 47 percent opposed Yucca Mountain -- still an even split.

"Both sides have some effective arguments, so in the end it turns out as a wash," Ipsos vice president Trent Ross said.

Nevada officials have a "fairly effective" argument in stressing the dangers of shipping nuclear waste, but stressing risks to groundwater is also a persuasive argument, Ross said.

The Ipsos poll shows that a public information campaign is needed, said Nathan Naylor, spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Reid and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., have talked with Gov. Kenny Guinn about calling a special session to spend as much as $10 million on the fight against Yucca Mountain. Guinn said he would decide this week on calling a special session.

The money would fund a public relations push that would include television commercials and a grassroots campaign.

"This is something we have known in our guts for some time -- that not enough people are aware of the facts surrounding Yucca Mountain," Naylor said. "When they become aware of the facts, they are opposed to the plan. This clearly shows us what our next step needs to be. A public information campaign is just what the doctor ordered."

Nevada officials are seizing on the poll, especially on a question that asked what people thought about high-level radioactive waste being shipped through their state. Sixty-one percent of those polled were against shipments.

"It shows that the transportation issue is one that concerns a majority of people in this country," said Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who is running for Nevada's new congressional seat. "I think if people knew how dangerous (Yucca) could be, especially on the transportation and homeland security issues, those numbers would be much higher."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said he expects the poll will be used as part of the anti-Yucca campaign being waged by Nevada officials. Nevada officials now have the difficult job of moving the data found in the poll into a national debate about Yucca Mountain, Gibbons said.

Gibbons was not surprised by the even split, he said. "A lot of people are in tune with Nevada's position once they learn the facts," he said.

Gibbons said a question about groundwater pollution could also help make Nevada's argument, as 69 percent of those polled said they were opposed if the site caused pollution.

"Water is such a necessity for life," Gibbons said. "Whenever you start talking about polluting groundwater, whether it is in New York or Nevada, people are going to be upset with it."

Officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear industry's lobbying arm, declined comment on the poll. NEI has done polling on the issue on the past, officials said, but has not asked about Yucca Mountain in the last few years.

The construction of Yucca Mountain as a national waste repository is key to the future of the industry, officials say.

The Ipsos pollsters asked six questions on Yucca Mountain and recorded the responses, which follow:

Statements in favor of Yucca Mountain: