Hearing in LV to focus on nuke waste rail route

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 11:55 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department's plans to ship nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain will be the topic of a March 5 congressional hearing in Las Vegas.

After the department announced in December that it preferred the Caliente corridor route if it selected to build a rail line to move waste to the planned nuclear waste site, Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., requested a hearing from the House Transportation Committee on the subject.

The hearing is set for 9 a.m. at the Clark County Government Center in Las Vegas, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.

"I remain deeply troubled that the Department of Energy has acted before Nevada's legal challenge to Yucca has concluded," Porter said in a statement announcing the hearing today. "There are many unanswered questions on the safety of nuclear traffic passing through many states along the proposed rail route. The possibility of train derailments or other mishaps, as well as our ability to respond to such accidents, must be addressed."

Porter and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., both sit on the House Transporation Committee and Porter is the vice chairman of the House railroad subcommittee, which will sponsor the hearing. Subcommittee Chairman Jack Quinn., R-N.Y, plans to attend.

"My primary concern is for the safety and security of America's railroad system," Quinn said. "Anytime hazardous materials like radioactive waste are transported via rail cars, it is incumbent upon Congress to ensure the safety of the communities impacted by the proposed routes."

Tentative witnesses include officials from the Energy Department, the Surface Transportation Board, former Sen. Dick Bryan, Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, and the state's transportation consultant Bob Halstead.

Porter, who has not been in Nevada since December due to problems in his right ear, has been given permission by his doctors to fly after March 1, so he intends to be present at the hearing, spokesman Adam Mayberry said.

Berkley, although not a member of the subcommittee, will also be at the hearing, spokesman David Cherry said.

The subcommittee includes 14 Republicans and 12 Democrats, but Cherry did not have a list yet of who will travel to Las Vegas for the hearing.