Legislators get updates on Yucca

Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2002 | 9:32 a.m.

Midwestern states seem uneasy about the prospects of a high-level nuclear waste dump in Nevada, but Eastern states, where most commercial nuclear reactors are located, are eager for a place to ship spent radioactive fuel, a legislative panel was told Tuesday.

Calls to the National Conference of State Legislatures about the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain increased dramatically after President Bush endorsed the plan in February, Linda Sikkema of the conference told the Legislative Committee on High-Level Radioactive Waste.

"Legislators want information, more details," Sikkema said. "There is much more interest about Yucca Mountain."

During the year before Sept. 11, 2001, the conference office in Denver received about 100 calls about Yucca, many from states where radioactive containers will have to travel by truck or train, she said. Since February the group has fielded 150 calls.

Nevada lawmakers heard from the Energy Department, state officials and legal experts on Tuesday in Las Vegas about the proposed nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Russ Dyer, DOE's Yucca Mountain project manager, told the committee that it would be "sometime in 2003" before a transportation plan is ready. Three or four years before 2010, the year the DOE expects to ship nuclear waste to Yucca, equipment and training reviews will begin in the states, he said.

Sen. Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden, said Nevada volunteer firefighters and paramedics are concerned because they feel they do not have adequate training to handle an accident involving radioactive materials.

"We'd like to see what's coming," Jacobsen said.

Meanwhile, Nevada continues to challenge the repository in court, lawmakers were told.

With five lawsuits pending against the federal nuclear waste project, the state has no intent to negotiate with the DOE, said Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

He noted that the Waste Isolation Pilot Project near Carlsbad was offered to New Mexico with a promise of a state veto and millions of dollars in benefits.

After New Mexico opened negotiations, it could not veto or even sue the federal government, Loux said.

"DOE's experience with New Mexico on WIPP has been empty promises," Loux said. "There will be no negotiations by the state on the Yucca Mountain Project."

Attorney Joe Egan, leading Nevada's legal battle, said federal judges have said they want to hear the state's argument and review hundreds of thousands of documents related to the repository project. Rulings on the cases could come within a year, he said.