Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Was Richardson for Yucca before he was against it?

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is coming under scrutiny for how he has painted his position on Nevada's preeminent issue: Yucca Mountain.

As a seven-term congressman and former energy secretary, the Democrat has perhaps the longest record on the proposed nuclear waste repository of any candidate.

If elected, Richardson has said , he would not open Yucca Mountain, and instead would designate it as a national laboratory to solve the nuclear waste problem.

In May, Richardson boasted in a campaign statement that for more than 20 years "I have opposed the Yucca Mountain project."

That claim was challenged Tuesday from various corners, including by Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

"I saw the Department of Energy putting reports together for Congress that said it was a very good site," said Loux, Nevada's point man in fighting Yucca Mountain.

Loux said the Clinton Energy Department "set the stage" for Yucca Mountain's designation as the nation's nuke dump.

One report in particular, dubbed a "viability assessment," confirmed the site as a suitable waste dump during Richardson's tenure, Loux said.

For the second time in a decade, in 1999, Nevada petitioned the energy secretary to disqualify Yucca Mountain on the basis of the department's own ground water guidelines. According to Loux, Richardson declined, saying the department lacked sufficient information and was still studying the site.

"Perhaps in his own mind he did (disqualify the site), but we didn't see any evidence of it ," Loux said. "The opportunity was there."

The issue surfaced in a Denver Post report Tuesday, and Richardson was later confronted on his record during a taping of the public affairs TV show "Face to Face With Jon Ralston."

Richardson said he supported a far-reaching appropriations bill in 1987 that narrowed the nuclear dump choices to Nevada because the legislation more importantly included funding for health care, pensions and defense. The bill later became known as the "Screw Nevada bill" for targeting the Silver State with high-level nuclear waste.

"How can I vote against Medicare ?" Richardson asked Ralston . "You're finding (fault with) a vote on an overall bill. I don't recall any 'Screw Nevada bill.' Bill Richardson has always been with Nevada on stopping Yucca Mountain."

Richardson said he subsequently voted against the project "five or six" times in Congress, and highlighted his record as energy secretary.

"I am the one, because of science reasons, who said we're going to decide whether we open Yucca on science, not politics," he said.

Richardson said he stopped a move to validate Yucca as the nation's nuclear waste dump because of water concerns, and suggested the country examine storing the waste at regional sites.

During the TV appearance, Richardson repeatedly invoked the name of Richard Bryan, a former Nevada governor and senator during Richardson's tenure as energy secretary.

Bryan defended Richardson on Tuesday.

"In the 12 years I was in Washington, D.C., from a Nevada perspective, he was the best energy secretary we had," Bryan said. "He was faithful to the policies of the Clinton administration."

He said although Clinton did not categorically oppose the Yucca project, he had two broad principles: The administration would not compromise on health and safety standards, nor approve Nevada as a temporary waste dump.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid took a pass on the issue. " Senator Reid is not going to get into dissecting the candidates' records," spokesman Jon Summers said . "What's important now is halting the dump. Voters can decide for themselves who's going to do that."

A Senate hearing on Yucca Mountain, requested by the Democratic front - runner, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, will be held next week. The rest of the Democratic field also opposes storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

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