Wednesday, March 7, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.
For a dead project, Yucca Mountain sure has lots of life.
Or so it would seem from this week's developments, with the Department of Energy announcing new legislation designed to revivify the nuclear waste dump and the congressional delegation essentially responding that the DOE is propping up a corpse. So is this the administration's version of "Weekend With Bernie" or should the delegation be worried that this sequel, like the "Friday the 13th" series, is far from the last?
Although I am convinced most Nevadans hardly think about the repository anymore, with all the peregrinations the project has traveled since "Screw Nevada I" two decades ago, I find it interesting this announcement comes one day after a leading contender for the GOP nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain, expressed unabashed support for Yucca Mountain. And the impact on the presidential race in Nevada - perhaps on both sides as some Democratic hopefuls have mixed records at best - cannot be ignored, especially if the contest is relatively close here.
The DOE's new bill is an exemplar of overkill - perhaps appropriate for a project presumed dead. Calling Yucca Mountain "critical to the nation's current and future energy and national security needs," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman unfurled the legislation that would eliminate a current cap on waste, accelerate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing procedures and in Orwellian DOEspeak "consolidate duplicative environmental reviews."
Time for a whole new round of fornicating metaphors, my dear delegation. Or you could just attack the Bush administration and declare Yucca Mountain dead - again.
Fulminateth Sen. Harry Reid: "This is just the department's latest attempt to breathe life into this dying beast and it will fail. As Senate majority leader I will continue to leverage my leadership position to prevent the dump from ever being built."
Decryeth Rep. Shelley Berkley: "The Bush administration has renewed its attack on Nevada, and their goal is simple: Open Yucca Mountain at any cost."
Later Tuesday, Reid and Sen. John Ensign announced a bill to obviate the need for the dump with on-site storage. See, it's dead.
Reid's use of the word "leverage" is interesting and should be determinative as to Yucca's fate - while he is majority leader, that is. And the irony there is that Ensign, as head of the GOP Senate committee, is duty-bound to unseat his fellow Nevadan and put someone in control who is more likely to keep Yucca Mountain alive.
Even a GOP leader of the Senate - and, less likely, one in the House - would be somewhat irrelevant if a president were elected who was opposed to the project. All of the candidates visiting our very important state will claim to be strong on the issue, but their words will mostly be hollow.
And McCain's interviews over the weekend in Utah will be even more difficult than retreating from his Iraq position. The Deseret News ran a piece headlined, "McCain tells Utahns he backs nuclear storage" and recounted how the senator embarrassed Gov. Jon Huntsman, a dump opponent, by mocking transportation issues.
"Oh, you have to travel through states ... I am for Yucca Mountain. I'm for storage facilities. It's a lot better than sitting outside power plants all over America," McCain told the newspaper, then added, "I don't mean to be sarcastic. I apologize. But I believe we can transport waste safely."
No need to apologize until you get here, Senator. Maybe Nevadans don't care too much about the dump issue anymore. But that kind of enthusiasm for the project can't be helpful here in our very important state. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney try to exploit those remarks when they visit.
On the Democratic side, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has portrayed himself as a friend of the state on Yucca. But as DOE secretary, he did nothing to stop the project and also dismissed transportation concerns. John Edwards has voted for the project, too, but Reid got his mind right later in his Senate term. Contrast that with Sen. Hillary Clinton, who saw an opportunity and jumped on Tuesday's developments to reiterate how she has "long opposed" the dump.
This illustrates the point that is all too obvious despite all the funereal pronouncements by Reid, Berkley, et al. Yucca Mountain is not dead and will not be buried until an alternative is approved by Congress and the president.
The DOE knows that and hence breathed new life into the project this week.
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