New pro-Yucca group to lobby rural residents

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, July 7, 2005 | 10:59 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A fledgling pro-Yucca Mountain group plans to visit Nye County later this month to try to bolster support for the repository project among rural Nevada residents.

The Yucca Mountain Task Force, formed in April to re-energize support for the Energy Department program and lobby Congress on Yucca budget issues, also aims to secure allies in Nye County.

Task force members plan an informal meeting on July 27 in Pahrump with several county officials, with a scheduled trip to Yucca Mountain the following day.

A number of Nye residents already support the plan to construct a national high-level nuclear waste repository in their county. County officials have said that if Yucca is inevitable they plan to negotiate for federal benefits.

The task force, a coalition of state utility officials and nuclear power industry groups led by the Nuclear Energy Institute, wants to further open a dialogue with local residents, said task force co-chairman Charles Pray, Maine's state nuclear safety adviser and a former Maine state senator and Energy Department official.

"My dealings in government have proven that it is always best to be open and candid and to have a fair discussion about it," Pray said.

The task force wants to work with county leaders in their efforts to win compensation for Yucca and to assure that the repository meets all technical requirements and is safe, Pray said.

The group does not intend to "force" Yucca Mountain on local residents who do not support it, he said. He said he suspects there are a number of Nye County residents who "quietly" support Yucca, and others who oppose it but believe the county should reap federal benefits if the project can't be stopped.

Most Nevada elected officials, including its five-member congressional delegation and Gov. Kenny Guinn, are united in opposition to Yucca.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said the repository will never become a reality. The project for years has been plagued by delays, budget shortfalls and controversy over scientific studies at the site.

But Nye County officials would be "remiss in their duties" if they did not negotiate with the federal government for financial benefits and safety assurances, said David Swanson, interim manager of Nye County's nuclear waste repository office. He said industry officials from the task force group have unique insight into nuclear waste issues, such as storage and shipping.

"What I'm hoping to do is glean as much information as we can can from these folks," Swanson said.

Swanson said his personal skepticism about Yucca has faded in the last two and a half years.

"I feel really comfortable with bringing the repository here," he said. "I feel it's more or less inevitable."

Task force members plan continued meetings with locals in Nye County. Another task force organizer, David Blee, in his capacity as director of the U.S. Transport Council, made a presentation to the Central Nevada Community Protection Working Group on June 9. The council is another pro-Yucca group, aimed at educating the public about nuclear waste transportation.