Yucca Mountain News Clips - Friday, October 17, 2003

Yucca Mountain News Clips
Friday, October 17, 2003
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KVBC
Friday, October 17, 2003

Counties May Band To Profit From Yucca Mountain

It's a sign that there's support in Nevada for bringing nuclear waste here to our state. Some rural counties are talking about banding together to work with the Department of Energy. Lincoln, Nye and Esmeralda Counties, along with the City of Caliente, are talking about signing an interlocal agreement, in essence trading their support for Yucca mountain for economic benefits. News 3's Dana Wagner reports talk of a possible coalition of rural counties took some state and local officials by surprise.

Clark County was never asked to join in the agreement. The State of Nevada was never consulted. Some people aren't happy about it. A copy of the proposal, the so called Regional Transportation Cooperative Authority, talks about working with the Department of Energy on determining transportation routes for nuclear waste shipments through Nevada.

"Certainly we weren't included or asked to be included. It wasn't discussed with us." Clark County Planning Manager Irene Navis says being excluded from the process is a problem. If there's a nuclear waste accident in Lincoln, Nye or Esmeralda county, Clark County will be there with emergency trucks and personnel. "Making a side arrangement to make negotiations over transportation routes, transportation modes, outside the direct purvue of the governor's office, it bothers us a bit."

"No one was sneaking around." Department of Energy Spokesman Allen Benson says it was all done above board. An interlocal agreement between rural counties would show support for nuclear waste storage in Nevada. "This is the counties attempting to gain control of the situation and if it helps the program move forward, fine."

Senator Harry Reid says rural counties are so desperate for economic development, they'll even risk shipping nuclear waste on their roads and rails. But he doesn't think this agreement would do much to help the Department of Energy. "I frankly don't think it's making any impact, even though the DOE would like to think the entire State of Nevada is settling for nuclear waste."

This interlocal agreement is far from a done deal. Nye County commissioners rejected it, saying it takes too much power away from elected officials. But the other counties are still considering it. The Department of Energy says it's still on schedule to start taking waste at Yucca Mountain by the year 2010. First, they have to submit a license application and the license has to be approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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Pahrump Valley Times
October 17, 2003

Commission Meets Tuesday

PMC acreage tops agenda

By Mark Waite
PVT

Nye County Commissioners will consider resolutions to either sell or lease 12.15 acres of land surrounding Pahrump Medical Center during a commission meeting that begins at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Bob Ruud Community Center.

The sale would be at public auction with a minimum bid. Commissioners will also consider a resolution expressing an intention to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for a lease of at least five years with an option to buy. A related item on the agenda includes an update from consultant Scott Weiss on steps needed to reopen PMC.

Nye County Commissioners Patricia Cox and Candice Trummell will hold a pre-agenda workshop at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the community center. Backup material for the meeting is available on the Internet at the county's website address: www.nyecounty.net.

Among the 67 other items on the agenda - not including 24 items on the consent agenda, which can be voted on at once - is sending out a request for qualifications from firms interested in building a new detention facility.

Commissioners will vote on whether to set aside $1.5 million in the educational endowment fund in Payment Equal to Taxes for a four-year college in Pahrump. Previous commission action to set aside $1.5 million in possessory use taxes for a college will also be discussed.

A planning item on the agenda involves setting a date for a public hearing on a requirement that percolation tests on septic systems be verified by an engineer. That stems from a requirement imposed by the State Board of Health.

Fifteen members of the community will be appointed to a Nye County Federal Impacts Advisory Board.

A solid waste fund will be established, after an increase in landfill fees was mistakenly applied to the general fund. Alternatives for funding a revised fiscal year 2003-04 budget will be presented in light of the new shortfall.

A policy change requiring all county employees to live in Nye County is on the agenda. County Manager Mike Maher would be authorized to issue a buy-out of up to five years of retirement credits for employees with over 25 years with Nye County under another agenda item.

Commissioners will consider a contract with consultant Mary Ellen Giampaoli to study the proposed south Johnnie landfill site.

An appeal of a Pahrump Regional Planning Commission decision on the Action Ready Mix conditional use permit is set for a public hearing at 11:30 a.m. During a timed item scheduled for 11 a.m. commissioners will vote on the best control measures regarding dust in the air in Pahrump Valley. A 10:30 a.m. public hearing is scheduled on a bill requiring at least a six month waiting period before resubmitting requests for conditional use permits, variances and special planning exceptions.

Robert Kanser from Paragon Asset Management Company, will make a presentation on county investments at 1:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Field will present a petition to establish a county health department during a timed item at 2:15 p.m. In a related item, commissioners will schedule a discussion at a Nov. 18 meeting with Lynn Carrigan of the Nevada Public Health Foundation, over a grant to study the feasibility of a county health department.

Commissioners will consider minor remodeling of the old county complex to bring it up to compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The security of buildings, personnel and equipment at the Pahrump Justice Complex will also be discussed.

A cooperative agreement between counties affected by the transportation of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain will be considered, Nye County commissioners already rejected a proposed interlocal transportation agreement with Esmeralda and Lincoln counties and the City of Caliente. Also on the Natural Resources and Federal Facilities list of items is a contract for a nuclear waste transportation assessment by Longenecker and Associates that was rejected by a 2-1 vote of commissioners Oct. 7 when there wasn't a quorum of the board present.

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MSNBC
October 16, 2003

Yucca Mountain: A radioactive dilemma

For decades, nuclear plant operators and the people who live in the shadow of the reactors have clamored for a solution to a vexing question: what to do with the tons of radioactive waste they leave behind. Two decades ago, the federal government decided to solve the problem by burying the waste in the Nevada desert at a site called Yucca Mountain. But local opposition, the threat of terrorism and questions about the site's stability have plagued the effort from the start. MSNBC.com reports from Yucca Mountain.

More at - http://www.msnbc.com/news/yucca_front.asp?0cb=-K1-135833

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Las Vegas SUN
October 15, 2003

Rural counties work on Yucca pact

By Cy Ryan <cy@lasvegassun.com> and Ed Koch <koch@lasvegassun.com>
SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- A second try is being drafted of a proposed agreement for three rural counties and a city to join in a study over preferred routes for transportation of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain.

Nye, Esmeralda and Lincoln counties and the city of Caliente had initially agreed to seek $2.9 million in federal funds to do their own study rather than join with the state on which routes may be used for hauling the waste if the dump is ever built in Southern Nevada.

Nye County Commission Chairman Henry "Butch" Neth said today that his commission had rejected the initial agreement but he has directed his staff to draw a new pact. One objection, he said, was that Caliente would have had a vote and that would have given Lincoln County two votes.

Neth said over the years Lincoln and Esmeralda counties have been pro-Yucca Mountain, but Nye County, where Yucca Mountain is located, has adopted a neutral stance. Yucca Mountain is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Neth said he wants any study to look at the routes but not to select any preferred transportation line. But if nuclear waste does come to Nevada, the local governments have to be prepared to protect their citizens. That's why he favors a study but not to make any recommendation.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the action by the rural counties to even consider such an alliance flies in the face of the state's legal efforts to keep nuclear waste out of Nevada -- waste that pose as much of a threat to rural Nevada as it does to urban Clark County communities.

"As far as I'm concerned, the health and safety of rural Nevadans is as important as those living in Las Vegas," Reid said. "Transporting this waste isn't safe, and storing the waste in Yucca Mountain isn't safe.

"There are some who seem to forget that or think that making a deal is worth the risk. I don't agree," he said. "Nuclear waste is one of the most dangerous substances we know of, and I'm not willing to put a pricetag on Nevadans' safety."

Lincoln County in the past has supported Yucca Mountain. It has proposed that a temporary dump be located there and that a way station be sited in the county for unloading railroad cars with nuclear waste unto trucks destined for Yucca Mountain.

Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Office for Nuclear Projects, said the agreement could "cut the state and Clark County out of this whole transportation planning process."

Loux said the U.S. Energy Department induced the counties to form the agreement. At a meeting in Amargosa Valley, Loux said, Margaret Chu, director of the civilian office for nuclear waste in the Department of Energy, urged the counties to form a regional transportation pact.

Loux said Chu promised $2.9 million in transportation and economic development money if the agreement was reached. Loux said Chu wanted the counties to make recommendations.

DOE spokesman Allen Benson said the agency has put in place an agreement with Nye County for $100,000 for preliminary transportation work, but that is all so far.

The five-year agreement can be worth up to $2.9 million, Benson said, but it was important to point out that no money was definite at this point beyond the $100,000.

Neth said he doesn't want his county or the proposed agency to designate any preferred route. He said Nye County wants to remain neutral in this controversy and wants to make sure its citizens are protected.

Lea Alfano, administrative coordinator for the Lincoln County Nuclear Oversight Program, said her office is going about the process accepting that "Yucca is a done deal" according to Congress and President Bush.

She said if shipments of nuclear waste will not come close to Las Vegas, they will have to get to Yucca Mountain somehow.

"As an affected unit, Clark County still has a say in the issue. We don't feel this is cutting anyone out," she said. "Our goal is that if this is going to happen, we have to work to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits" for Lincoln County.

Alfano said there is "a great spirit of cooperation" between Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties, despite the apparent glitch of Lincoln getting two votes with the county seat at Pioche and the city of Caliente.

Attempts to reach Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips at Caliente City Hall and at his True Value store were not successful. Attempts to reach Esmeralda County Commission Chairman Ben Viljoen also were not successful.

Loux said the Energy Department is "crying on Capitol Hill" they don't have enough money to proceed with work at Yucca Mountain. "Yet they have enough money to buy off these counties," he said.

Benson said The money comes out of DOE's 2003 budget and are in addition to the $1.2 million Nye County receives in oversight funds.

Neth said he expected the Nye County staff to have a new proposed cooperative agreement ready for action by his county commission in a few weeks.

Loux said nine counties in Nevada already get federal money for oversight of the Yucca Mountain project. He said a federal grant to the three counties would discriminate against the other six counties.

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Las Vegas SUN
October 15, 2003

Letter: List's views must be challenged

Former Nevada Gov. Robert List, a spokesperson for the nuclear industry, is circulating through the state to persuade cash-strapped counties to "throw in the towel" and accept nonexistent "benefits" to embrace a Yucca Mountain nuclear dump.

He emphasizes monetary benefits and conveniently ignores sound scientific reasons why Yucca Mountain is unsuitable as a nuclear-waste dump. He also ignores the scientifically based lawsuits against Yucca that Nevada has filed with federal agencies.

List should make himself available to Clark County and the city of Las Vegas, which have joined with Nevada in three of its lawsuits. He should appear in a public forum. The public must have an opportunity to have their concerns addressed directly and they must have an opportunity to question List directly.

Nevadans should never submit to an overbearing federal government, which puts sound science secondary to expedient politics.

Frank Perna

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Davis County Clipper
October 15, 2003

shop blasts Envirocare media reports

By Tom Busselberg

Clipper News Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freshman Rep. Rob Bishop wishes he had the power to influence national environmental policy — as has been alleged by some Salt Lake City-based print and electronic media.

Some media reports over the past weekend and into Monday, said he had sent a letter to federal Department of Energy (DOE) officials asking that allowable radiation levels for spent uranium be substantially hiked — allegedly also favoring awarding major amounts of nuclear waste to Envirocare, west of Tooele.

It was implied that immediately upon receipt of his letter, DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham put wheels into motion.

“The editorials were outrageous. Some of the TV coverage and articles were wrong.’ Bishop said Tuesday morning.

“The bottom line is, it´s the same type of waste. Part of it is OK for places like Envirocare. The other, because of age, is not.’

Thirty million pounds of concentrated nuclear waste are involved — and could be moved from a federal facility in Ohio to Utah.

“The government could save money and could more safely transport the materials’ to Envirocare by train versus truck to Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Bishop said.

“Envirocare is not guaranteed (to get a contract),’ he said. “They would have to bid for it. There is another firm in Utah, and also companies in Colorado and Texas that could bid for it as well.’

At issue in media reports also was the fact that Bishop served as a lobbyist for Envirocare. “I haven´t worked for them for the past three or four years – quite a while. To be fair, we did part amicably. I do like them. They do a good job and are a very safe company.’

He said the letter he wrote about nuclear waste was written in July. “It probably would´ve meant nothing, if DOE hadn´t insisted it was a cheaper way to go (train versus truck). It´s not hotter material — that´s ridiculous. That it´s 25 percent hotter is simply not true.’

As far as his letter-writing efforts, Bishop said “I have done that with other companies and citizen groups. I have no qualms with what I did.’

Jason Groenewold, director of HEALS, an environmental group based in Salt Lake City, took issue with Bishop´s efforts, as reported in Salt Lake City media.

“When you look at the long-term liabilities that come with allowing higher-term waste in, it far exceeds any short-term gains. That´s been part of the problem,’ he said, also citing transportation concerns.

However, Bishop said rail transport is far safer than transportation by truck.

Long-term monitoring, maintenance and potential cleanup of the Envirocare site would outweigh any economic/jobs benefit, Groenewold said.

“The other issue is the secrecy in which he´s (Bishop) attempting to change the definition of radioactive waste,’ he said. “This is being stuck into the energy bill, which is massive legislation to begin with. It didn´t even have a chance to be debated by Congress.’

On Thursday, Oct. 16, Bishop said he would be conducting a hearing on a bill dealing with the Utah Test & Training Range “to try and stop encroachment. It´s also an effort to limit nuclear fuel rods,’ he said.

“The place planned for now (nuclear waste) is right in the air flight line, from Hill (Air Force Base). It would be a negative,’ Bishop said. “We´re trying to ensure that the training range would be preserved. It ties in with the effort to save the base, as well.

“While people are blasting me, I´m the only one fighting to keep out the really bad stuff.’

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Tri City Herald
October 16th, 2003

Cantwell asks DOE to pay up

By John Stang Herald staff writer

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell has asked the Department of Energy to pay a 10-year-old debt of $6.8 million to Washington state.

Cantwell, D-Wash., sent a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, telling him to send "without further delay" the payment-equal-to-taxes.

The money is due from the late 1980s when Hanford was one of three sites being considered for a national repository for nuclear wastes. Eventually, DOE picked Yucca Mountain, Nev., to receive commercial spent nuclear fuel and federal high-level radioactive wastes from across the nation.

Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, states being considered for the repository were entitled to receive federal money equal to the taxes a private company would have paid for sampling and studying a site for a nuclear waste repository.

Washington levied such a payment against DOE in 1993 to make up the equivalent of unpaid state business and occupation taxes.

With interest, that has grown to $6.8 million.

"For 10 years, (DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management) has denied responsibility for paying Washington's Business and Occupation Tax for activities carried out at the Hanford reservation," Cantwell wrote.

Her letter said DOE's Office of Hearings and Appeals ruled on June 25, 2002, and on July 16, 2003, that DOE must make the payment.

Cantwell's letter told DOE to explain why it has not paid the money and asks when it will.

DOE officials in Washington, D.C., were unavailable to comment on the issue Wednesday.

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Phoenix Business Journal
October 16, 2003

Feds want tighter lock on radioactive waste

Mike Sunnucks

Securing radioactive waste is a significant security concern in Arizona and other states -- despite increased safeguards put in place since Sept. 11, 2001.

That is according to a recent study completed by the U.S. General Accounting Office. The GAO investigation concluded that the federal government, private sector, Arizona and other states need to improve security related to sealed radioactive waste as well as the tracking of that waste.

According to the report, there are 318 organizations and businesses that dispose of radioactive waste in Arizona. Those include utilities and hospitals, though, unlike other states, Arizona does not have a breakdown of users by industry type.

The federal report raises concerns about the ability of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state agencies to keep track of radioactive waste. Since 1998, there have been 1,300 incidents of lost or abandoned radioactive waste nationwide, and current state and federal regulations track only users, not waste containers. The concern is that if radioactive material falls into terrorist hands it could be used to fashion a "dirty bomb." That notion is somewhat heightened in Arizona considering recent threats against the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station and continued investigations in terrorist cell activity in the Valley and Tucson.

The issue creates challenges and concerns for utilities, hospitals and biotechnology researchers, but businesses and institutions that dispose of radioactive waste in Arizona say they have put in extra protective measures since 9/11 and are confident in their waste security.

The Palo Verde nuclear plant sits at the top of the list of radioactive waste users and security priorities in the state. The plant is 50 miles west of Phoenix and is the largest in the United States. It also has been subject to terrorist threats. Earlier this year, the FBI investigated threats against the plant, and the state deployed armed National Guardsmen to help protect the facility.

Jim McDonald, spokesman for Palo Verde, said spent nuclear fuel is stored on site in secure dry-storage facilities and massive steel canisters that are welded shut.

Some high-level waste from Palo Verde eventually could be shipped to a controversial proposed storage facility in Yucca Mountain, Nev. But that facility faces legal and political challenges and likely will not open until at least 2020.

"We will be storing all of our spent fuel on site for many years," said McDonald.

McDonald said low-level radioactive waste, such as exposed tools and worker uniforms, is shipped to a nuclear waste facility in South Carolina.

He said he is confident the Palo Verde plant and its spent fuel and waste products are well-protected.

Palo Verde is owned by a group of western utilities including Pinnacle West Capital Corp. and Salt River Project. Arizona Public Service Co., an arm of Pinnacle West, manages the nuclear plant.

Hospitals and medical facilities are one of the other top disposers of radioactive waste in Arizona and other states.

John Tucker, spokesman for Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, said some low-level radioactive waste is stored on site in a tightly controlled and "very secure area" until it is safe for normal disposal. Tucker said that on rare occasions the hospital will ship high-level radioactive waste to a disposal and storage center in North Carolina.

High-level radioactive waste used by the University of Arizona and its hospital and biomedical departments is kept in secured areas at the Tucson campus.

Dan Silvain, manager of medical health physics at UA, said the university has implemented several new security measures, including additional locks and restricted access to keep sealed waste secure at the school's hospital and other departments. Silvain said new security measures were ordered by former Gov. Jane Hull after 9/11, and university facilities recently have been inspected by the state Department of Public Safety.

"We're very confident," said Silvain of the security.

Low-level waste, like the kind related to patient care, is stored and allowed to decay to where its radioactive levels are zero. That waste then is transported to Phoenix where it is burned in an incinerator, Silvain said.

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 15, 2003

YUCCA ROUTES: Three rural counties mull pact

AG spokesman says DOE proposal attempts to bypass state's authority

By Keith Rogers
Review-Journal

In a move that has caught state and local officials off guard, three rural Nevada counties and the city of Caliente are considering forming a new regional agency to coordinate transportation of nuclear waste to the planned Yucca Mountain repository.

The proposal has raised concerns with critics of the government's plans for disposing 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"They essentially want to cut the state and Clark County out of the process rather than deal with us," Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency chief Bob Loux said Tuesday, referring to the Department of Energy.

Sources familiar with the draft agreement said it was crafted by the rural counties at the suggestion of Energy Department officials who prefer to deal with an umbrella agency rather than the affected counties individually.

Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips said, "The department has suggested that the governments along this transportation route take a regional approach."

Ultimately, the agreement would have to be approved by Attorney General Brian Sandoval. Sandoval could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but in a statement conveyed by his spokesman, Tom Sargent, Sandoval said, "They bypassed us, they bypassed the governor, they bypassed the Nevada Department of Transportation. This is something we're going to have to deal with as a state."

A copy of the unsigned, draft agreement for the "Regional Transportation Cooperative Authority," calls for forging a pact between Nye, Lincoln and Esmeralda counties and Caliente to receive federal or state funding to "develop information, formulate proposals, recommend plans, (and) adopt policies regarding transportation corridors."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he believes the Department of Energy instigated the draft agreement and that "the health and safety of rural residents is as important as those living in metropolitan areas, like Las Vegas."

"There are some who think this stuff is safe. Transporting this stuff isn't safe. Putting it in Yucca Mountain isn't safe," he said. "DOE and the president might be willing to gamble with our safety but I don't think we should."

Allen Benson, a spokesman for the Energy Department's Office of Repository Development, fielded questions for the department's civilian radioactive waste chief, Margaret Chu, saying, "Our view has always been that local governments should work cooperatively.

"If they can come forward with a concept that we believe would be helpful, we would consider funding it," Benson said.

While attending the independent, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board's September meeting in Amargosa Valley at the Longstreet Inn, Chu met across the street at the Stateline Casino with representatives from the rural counties and some consultants.

"The purpose of the meeting was to exchange ideas and explore possibilities for cooperation," said Benson who attended the informal meeting. "Nothing was decided, nothing was settled, it was just an information exchange."

Ben Viljoen, chairman of the Esmeralda County Commission, said officials from his county and Lincoln County "have worked four years on this thing and Nye has been in and out of the mix.

"Basically we're trying to stand united because the waste will be going through all three counties. We want to stand as one voice before the Department of Energy," Viljoen said.

Nye County Commission Chairman Henry Neth said his commission rejected the draft agreement at a recent meeting because it would have created a separate agency to funnel Yucca Mountain grant money outside of the commission's direct control.

The other entities have yet to act on the proposal.

"We believe an authority, as it was put to us, would be more consultant top-heavy and wouldn't be the true will of the elected officials," Neth said.

He said he expects the Nye County Commission, however, will revisit the issue.

Despite Nye County's rejection of the first draft, Clark County's principal planner for nuclear waste, Fred Dilger, who was privy to the conference-call discussion about it, said he was "very surprised" when he found out how the proposed agreement emerged.

"We were deliberately excluded," he said. "Director Chu didn't want to meet with anyone from the state or any of the other affected governments."

Energy Department officials are still hashing out their strategy for transporting highly radioactive spent fuel from commercial power reactors across the nation to Yucca Mountain. They have yet to submit a license application for the project to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and they predicted after Congress approved the project last year over Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto that a license application won't be ready until December 2004.

Nevertheless, the environmental impact statement for the repository project gives preference to rail shipments with five alternatives for rail corridors in the state, including one from Jean and another modified route through the Las Vegas Valley, both of which are in Clark County.

Phillips said his concern is more about good planning than taking a position on the repository's location at Yucca Mountain.

"There's got to be some way to make sure the tracks abut one another on the county line," the Caliente mayor said. "Take emergency response. Whether it's rail capability or temporary highway, it's intuitive we would need an emergency response capability here in the city if transportation comes this way."

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Las Vegas Sun
October 15, 2003

Counties mull pact for Yucca waste routes in Nevada

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Three rural Nevada counties and the city of Caliente are considering forming a new regional agency to coordinate transportation of nuclear waste to the planned Yucca Mountain repository.

The proposal has raised concerns with critics of the government's plans for disposing 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Sources familiar with the draft agreement told the Las Vegas Review-Journal it was crafted by the rural counties at the suggestion of Energy Department officials who prefer to deal with an umbrella agency rather than the affected counties individually.

"The department has suggested that the governments along this transportation route take a regional approach," Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips said.

"If they can come forward with a concept that we believe would be helpful, we would consider funding it," Benson said.

Ben Viljoen, chairman of the Esmeralda County Commission, said officials from his county and Lincoln County "have worked four years on this thing and Nye has been in and out of the mix.

"Basically we're trying to stand united because the waste will be going through all three counties. We want to stand as one voice before the Department of Energy," Viljoen said.

The other entities have yet to act on the proposal.

"We believe an authority, as it was put to us, would be more consultant top-heavy and wouldn't be the true will of the elected officials," Neth said.

He said he expects the Nye County Commission, however, will revisit the issue.

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Pahrump Valley Times
October 15, 2003

Push is on for Pahrump college

Group Hosts Tours By University Officials, Takes Aim At Inclusion In 2005 State Budget

By Mark Waite
PVT

If a local group of promoters is successful, Pahrump students could one day find themselves strolling around the campus of a four-year university without leaving town.

And rather than replace the existing Pahrump Valley Center, the university could supplement it with a "two plus two" program, through which students could attend the Community College of Southern Nevada for two years, then switch to the four-year campus in Pahrump.

Proponents are racing to meet a Dec. 1 deadline to present a proposal to the chancellor of the University and Community College System, said Allan Parker, director of the Small Business Development Center. Parker is active in the project as chairman of the Pahrump Valley Community Action Team Education Task Force.

Nye County Commissioner Patricia Cox said she'll have an item for Tuesday's county commission meeting to allocate $1.5 million out of the Educational Endowment Fund from the Payment Equal to Taxes Nye County receives for the land value of Yucca Mountain. At the last county commission meeting in Tonopah Oct. 7, Cox inquired about $1.5 million the commission supposedly set aside from possessory use taxes paid by employers on the Nevada Test Site, back in December 1999.

Tim Hafen, a developer, long-time Pahrump resident and former assemblyman, said state educators have been invited to visit Pahrump. Jane Nichols, chancellor of the University and Community College System, toured Pahrump three weeks ago. Marcia Bandera, former Elko County superintendent who is now Pahrump's representative on the Nevada Board of Regents, visited last week. CCSN President Ron Remington will be invited to visit soon, Hafen said.

"The thrust of it is, it's a community effort. It's a community effort to get a campus," Hafen said. "We're trying to get it on the Board of Regents capital improvements project budget."

Hafen's daughter, Vicky Hafen Scott, from Henderson, is also working on the proposal. Hafen said his daughter helped successfully lobby the Nevada Legislature to provide funding for the new Nevada State College in Henderson this year.

Parker said a Pahrump college campus would be based on the new Henderson college proposal. Hafen said it would be probably be a Nevada State College branch.

If the 13-member Board of Regents approves the project, Commissioner Cox said the next step is to take it to the Nevada Legislature for incorporation into the governor's budget for the 2005 session, which has a deadline of Sept. 1, 2004.

Proponents say a four-year college campus, like a hospital, is one of the amenities Pahrump lacks.

"We're the largest community in the State of Nevada that does not have a community college campus," Hafen said, rattling off thee names of other, smaller Nevada communities with college campuses of their own such as Fallon, Elko and Gardnerville.

"The chancellors and the regents are in full support of this," said Cox. "We're just having to get our plan together. We have roughly seven weeks to get our plan together because we have to have it ready by December to present to the regents."

Bandera appears to have been sold on the idea after her first visit to Pahrump in five years. "I was very impressed with what the people had to show me. This is not a light thought; this is a very well thought out, comprehensive, determined approach, and I was impressed with that," Bandera said.

"I'm a big supporter that rural counties and rural towns need educational support and infrastructure," she added. "I toured the high tech center, and I also looked at the plans and I am supportive of the preliminary plan.

"As I told them, there will be competition but I think they have a right to ask. They're looking to get a first building and certainly with the population base and the interest, why not?"

Bandera noted the concept wasn't a new one. The idea was first floated in 1999, when there were discussions about building a community college campus behind the Pahrump Valley Winery, on 80 of the 240 acres acquired from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Pahrump Assistant Town Manager Peggy Warner said the town acquired that property at the same time it acquired 427 acres for a Pahrump/Nye County Fairgrounds. However the BLM, which gave the town a recreation and public purpose lease for the 240 acres, told the town it couldn't use part of it for a community college, Warner said.

Cox said the proponents are looking at another possible site for a college campus across from the fairgrounds on Highway 160 and Ironwood Avenue. The BLM would be asked to transfer that land, she said.

Parker said, "There's an awful lot of work that needs to be put together: a formalized proposal, a professional presentation, update any information that has been previously done, they want us to do two surveys."

Fortunately, some legwork has already been done.

Parker said PVCAT education task force member Karen Spalding has plans that were already drawn up for a college campus. He plans to survey local students on their educational needs and survey local employers on what training they need for their employees. That could include employers such as the Nevada Test Site, building contractors and hotel/casinos.

The campus could provide certificates for technical training in the culinary arts or the building trades, as well as a standard university bachelor's degree.

Parker said the idea is "to be able to provide the full menu of a student's post secondary education for anything they might want to do."

Pahrump received $3.5 million in state funding, to go with a $1.5 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant for the CCSN Pahrump Valley Center, also known as the high tech center, in the 1999 legislative session. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in February 2000, but the construction contract wasn't awarded until December 2000 due to the relocation of the Nye County School District bus barn and problems with administering the EDA grant. The 16-room, 34,000 square-foot center opened its doors in time for school in September 2001.

Though it hosts community college courses and dual high school/college credit classes, the Pahrump Valley Center was never intended to be a college campus, Parker said. Proponents of the four-year college envision the Pahrump Valley Center eventually being turned over to Pahrump Valley High School.

"I can see the community college keeping that building and working on the high school with their dual-credit systems," Hafen said. "There's a place for the high tech center, but we have to get a college campus started."

Parker said he heard estimates the cost of the campus may run $4 million to $6 million. While Nye County may provide some funding, the State of Nevada couldn't be expected to shoulder all of the remaining cost, he said.

"Budgets are tight everywhere so you wouldn't get it from any one source," Parker said. "I would suspect some of this would have to come from private corporations and donations."

Former District 36 Assemblyman Roy Neighbors, D-Tonopah, submitted a bill in the 2001 legislature for $5.8 million to construct a college building in Pahrump, but it didn't go anywhere.

Kelcy Thompson, administrator of the Pahrump Valley Center, had a death in the family and was unavailable for comment. But Cox said CCSN officials support the idea. "They're extremely happy, they think a two plus two would work extremely well."

Pahrump Valley High School Principal Jerry Hill said 60 to 65 percent of the graduating seniors go on to postsecondary education.

"If we had a full college you'd find a lot more kids staying here (in Pahrump)," Hill said.

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Washington Post
October 15, 2003

Bush Campaign Raises A Record $49.5 Million For Their Efforts, Fundraisers Also Gain

By Thomas B. Edsall and Sarah Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers

President Bush's reelection campaign yesterday reported raising $49.5 million in the third quarter, a decisive record for a three-month period. Since launching his fundraising effort in May, Bush has collected $83.9 million.

The record receipts -- more than triple the top Democrat's fundraising for the quarter -- were driven in large part by just 285 men and women, who collected $38.5 million or more, which was at least 45 percent of Bush's total take. This fundraising elite, many of whom were beneficiaries of Bush administration policies, included 100 "Rangers," who raised at least $200,000 apiece, and 185 "Pioneers," who collected at least $100,000 each.

Such high-powered fundraisers have become crucially important in the current election cycle because the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law prohibits individuals, companies and unions from giving large "soft money" contributions to federal candidates or parties. This has put a premium on men and women who can collect large amounts from individuals, who can give no more than $2,000 apiece.

The GOP, with extensive support from corporate chief executives, trade association leaders and others with a ready network of employees, members or associates, has developed a far stronger small-donor fundraising base than the Democrats. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean has demonstrated the potential power of the Internet as a fundraising tool, but the $14.8 million he is expected to report for the third quarter is dwarfed by Bush's total.

Bush has the advantage of incumbency, which, in 1995, paid off for President Bill Clinton, who collected $9.95 million in the third quarter of that year, compared with the $5.5 million raised by Bob Dole, the eventual Republican nominee. But even as a non-incumbent, Bush raised $29.5 million in the second quarter of 1999, when he was still seeking his party's nomination.

On Wall Street, major Bush fundraisers include Stan O'Neal of Merrill Lynch & Co., whose employees had already given more than $280,000 as of the end of June; Stephen M. Lessing of Lehman Brothers Inc., who raised $159,000; Joseph Grano and James P. MacGilvray of UBS Paine Webber, who raised $88,000; John J. Mack of Credit Suisse First Boston, who raised $124,000; and James E. Cayne of Bear Stearns Cos., who raised $137,000. The totals were based on data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

All told, there are at least 37 Rangers and Pioneers from the finance industry, which has been vocal in its support for the Bush administration's economic program, particularly the tax cuts.

Asked what the Bush administration has done for investment banking and the securities industry generally, James Spellman, spokesman for the Securities Industry Association, mentioned, "first and most important, the tax reduction in dividend income and capital gains" These cuts, he said, have "generated more interest in equity investments."

In addition, increasing the maximum allowed contribution to IRA and 401(k) accounts and legislation creating education savings accounts have, together with the cuts, encouraged significant "portfolio reconfiguration," Spellman said

Leading fundraisers on Bush's list, such as Pioneer Dirk Van Dongen of the National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors, routinely advise the White House on business and tax matters. Bush's Pioneers include many prominent Washington figures, such as Bush strategist and former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed, as well as lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Wayne Berman and Lanny Griffith. Former senators Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minn.), Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) and John C. Danforth (R-Mo.) are on the list, as is former representative Tillie Fowler (R-Fla.).

The power and energy industries, which the Bush administration has supported repeatedly with both legislative and regulatory initiatives over the objections of environmental groups, have produced at least 14 Rangers and Pioneers.

The Bush administration "has been really good for the industry and really good for the nation," said Joe F. Colvin, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute. In addition to leading the fight for the creation of a nuclear waste depository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain facility, the administration has recognized the importance of nuclear power in energy generation, Colvin said.

Bill Brier, vice president for policy and public affairs at the Edison Electric Institute, said: "We are now poised on the brink of the first comprehensive energy policy for over a decade." Brier cited proposals for enhancing the nation's electric transmission infrastructure and eliminating legal and regulatory barriers "to modern competitive electric markets." He praised the administration's policy initiatives on power plant emissions.

The list of Rangers and Pioneers includes at least 25 executives in the real estate and construction industries.

Dennis Day, communications director of the Associated General Contractors of America, said that, under the Bush administration, "we have enjoyed a seat at the table before burdensome regulations came out, and we were able to shape those regulations to make them more palatable to the industry."

On a scale of 1 to 10, Day rated the Bush administration as a 7 or an 8, compared with the Clinton administration, to which he gave a 3. The Clinton years produced "very burdensome regulation; there was no seat at the table, no asking how this will affect you," Day said. "It has dramatically changed with this administration."

Day and other officials of associations representing business interests cited as particularly important to their members the elimination of the estate tax. With the administration's backing, Congress passed legislation that will end the tax in 2010.

The geographic distribution of Bush's elite Rangers suggests that Bush's most faithful source of funds is the donor network he established in his home state of Texas, where he served nearly two terms as governor, and the one built in Florida by his brother Jeb, now in his second term as governor there. Of the 100 Rangers, 14 are from Florida and 12 from Texas, followed by 11 from California, eight from New York, six from Ohio, five each from Tennessee and Indiana, and four from Illinois.

One northeastern family, the Egans of Massachusetts, single-handedly raised at least $600,000 for Bush. Richard Egan, the billionaire founder of data storage company EMC Corp., and sons Christopher and Michael are all listed as Rangers.

Staff writer Dana Milbank and researchers Lucy Shackelford and Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

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Nevada Appeal
October 14, 2003

OurView: Ringer on nuclear waste review board

Because the baseball playoffs are in the air, imagine for a moment that an umpire has written an opinion piece for a newspaper saying he thinks the Boston Red Sox should win the World Series.

Would you trust that umpire to work a game objectively and fairly? Well, if you were a Red Sox fan you might. Anybody else would cry foul.

That's exactly the situation, however, with Michael Corradini, chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the group supposedly giving the federal government independent advice on Yucca Mountain.

Corradini, a University of Wisconsin physics engineering professor appointed to the nuclear review board by President Bush in June 2002, co-authored an essay published by a newspaper in Madison, Wis. In it, the writers state "nuclear waste can be stored safely at Yucca Mountain," and "the transportation of spent nuclear fuel is safe" because casks designed to carry waste to Nevada "are nearly indestructible."

Lots of people have that opinion, including President Bush. But when your job is to be objective and unbiased, spouting off opinions on one side of an issue should get you fired, or never hired in the first place. (Corradini expressed similar opinions in congressional testimony in 2001.)

Other members of the review board called for Corradini's resignation earlier this year, saying he has compromised the effectiveness of the board. But he's still there.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has renewed the call and is considering an attempt to terminate the board altogether. "Anyone with a sense of fairness would tell the guy to leave," Reid said.

Perhaps Corradini has done Nevada a favor in expressing his views. At least he's biased on the. record.

And perhaps that record will help Nevada's cause in the courts when it comes to stopping the Yucca Mountain project. It's one more example of "sound science" losing out to political favoritism.

Nevertheless, we'd rather the review board provide effective and scientifically open-minded analyses of the complex process proposed for Yucca Mountain. It can't do that with Corradini as chairman, or even as a member. Bush must toss him out of the game.

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Las Vegas SUN
October 14, 2003

Editorial: No place for bias in review

The chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board is at it again. Michael Corradini, whose objectivity on the Yucca Mountain project has been questioned before, recently co-authored a column in a Wisconsin newspaper in which he contended that the transportation of nuclear waste and its storage at Nevada's Yucca Mountain can all be done safely. It's outrageous that the chairman of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, an independent body charged with investigating the safety of the Yucca Mountain project, would show such bias. The irony is that, prior to Corradini joining the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the group had been viewed by even critics of Yucca Mountain as being relatively evenhanded.

Corradini, chairman of the engineering physics department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was appointed by President Bush to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board in June 2002. But Corradini has never been a paragon of objectivity. Corradini, before his appointment, was listed as an "expert" by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear power industry's lobbying arm. And Corradini has testified before Congress that the stalemate over Yucca Mountain was unacceptable and was due to political reasons.

Corradini has been unable to quell his biases and give a fair shake to all sides in the Yucca Mountain debate, so in February Nevada's congressional delegation asked President Bush to demand that Corradini step down, but it was to no avail. Corradini's recent comments show that he still doesn't get it. Corradini should resign and let someone join the review board who can examine this incredibly important matter with the high degree of impartiality that it deserves.

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Salt Lake Tribune
October 14, 2003

Design concerns delay plans for nuclear storage site

By Judy Fahys

The Salt Lake Tribune

License proceedings are on hold for at least a month for plans to store used nuclear-plant fuel on the Skull Valley Goshute reservation in Tooele County.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board temporarily put the license review on hold Friday, following a request by the utility consortium behind the project, Private Fuel Storage (PFS). In discussions Tuesday, the company said it needed more time to answer new questions raised by staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has final say on the license.

After the licensing board ruled last March that the risk is too great that a Hill Air Force Base fighter jet might crash into the nuclear storage site, PFS opted to make the case that the consequences would not be severe if such a crash did happen.

This spring, the NRC, the licensing board's parent agency, prodded regulators to wrap up the case by the end of this year. But, with this and another recent scheduling delay, it seems unlikely the licensing board will be able to render a decision until at least mid-June and maybe later

"This is all just part of the process," said PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin. "This, again, just illustrates how detailed the process is, how rigorous the analysis has to be to satisfy the concerns of the NRC."

Martin said that much of the holdup has to do with a question NRC staff asked about the design of the steel-and-concrete casks that would be used to hold the waste at the Skull Valley facility. Finding an answer requires updating the models used to show the containers' durability.

The company wants to store up to 44,000 tons of high-level waste in an above-ground "parking lot" for up to 40 years, until permanent, underground disposal becomes available -- presumably at the federal government's proposed Yucca Mountain, Nev., facility.

fahys@sltrib.com

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Deseret News
October 14, 2003

N-waste licensing on hold for month

Associated Press

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has put on hold for at least a month licensing proceedings for plans to store used nuclear-plant fuel on the Skull Valley Goshute reservation in Tooele County.

The Friday decision to stall the licensing process was due to a request by the utility consortium behind the project, Private Fuel Storage. The company says it needs more time to answer new questions raised by staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has final say on the license.

The company wants to store up to 44,000 tons of high-level waste for up to 40 years on the impoverished Skull Valley reservation 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, until a permanent storage facility could be built at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

The licensing board's inquiry will focus on what would happen if a fighter jet on a training mission crashed into the slab where the casks would be stored above ground, untethered and in the open air.

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State of Nevada
Agency for Nuclear Projects
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/
nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us
775-687-3744
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