State receives OK to spend money on nuke hearings

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Jan. 2, 2004 | 10:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- After waiting more than seven months for a decision, Nevada officials have been told the state can spend a $2.5 million congressional allocation on participation in the upcoming Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearings regarding licensing of the Yucca Mountain project.

The Energy Department intends to file a license application for its potential nuclear waste storage site at Yucca before the end of the year.

The state plans to file several objections during the licensing proceedings that will follow. In April the DOE sent a letter to Bob Loux, head of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, saying the money Congress approved for the state to use for oversight in 2003 should not be spent on the state's opposition to the project until further notice.

W. John Arthur, the Yucca project's deputy director, apparently has now lifted that freeze. In a Dec. 23 letter to Loux, Arthur wrote that the department has evaluated the issue and nothing under federal nuclear waste law prohibits the use of that federal money for NRC hearings preparation.

Loux called the letter "a home run for us."

State officials and lawyers are still preparing Nevada's case against the licensing, but they also say they are confident the federal court will rule in their favor on several lawsuits the state has filed and stop the project later this year.

There also are lingering questions about future federal funding for the state regarding Yucca Mountain.

Nevada still has not heard back from the Energy Department or the Office of Management and Budget on a letter Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval sent Dec. 10 regarding funding for 2005.

Sandoval threatened legal action if the administration did not restore funding for the state's oversight activities by today.

Sandoval's spokesman, Tom Sargent, said Sandoval has not received a response yet, but there is no immediate intention to file legal action. He said Sandoval is giving federal officials a grace period, but that the issue is still being watched.

The administration usually releases the next fiscal year's budget in February. An OMB spokesman said it is customary not to discuss anything about the next budget until the president issues his requests.

President Bush's budget for 2004 contained no funding for Nevada oversight of the Yucca-related activities, but Congress eventually approved $1 million for the state.