DOE seeks control of Yucca water

Jace Radke

Wednesday, May 1, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.

The Energy Department has the authority and duty to maintain the Yucca Mountain site and needs water from the state of Nevada to do so, according to a brief asking a federal judge to stop the state from cutting off water.

The brief, filed Tuesday in a lawsuit against the state, asks U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt to proceed with a preliminary injunction the federal government first requested April 9, after the state cut off water permits for the proposed nuclear waste dump.

"Although Congress might ultimately decide that a (nuclear) repository should not be developed at Yucca Mountain, it might decide instead that the project should go forward,"according to the response. "Federal law requires the DOE to prepare for the contingency of a congressional decision to proceed with the Yucca Mountain project."

The State Engineer ended the DOE's permission to use ground water at Yucca Mountain, saying that after Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed the site on April 8, the proposed nuclear waste dump was legally dead.

Congress can override the veto with a simple majority, and hearings on the issue have already been held in the House.

The federal government is seeking the preliminary injunction so the project can continue to use underground water supplies while the case works its way through the legal system.