Yucca Mountain News Clips - Tuesday, November 4, 2003

Yucca Mountain News Clips
Tuesday, November 4, 2003
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
November 04, 2003

Military officials lobby in letter

Air Force chiefs fear Yucca Mountain plan will limit Nellis training

By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Air Force leaders have mounted a new campaign to warn Congress through letters and meetings that a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository could threaten training out of Nellis Air Force Base, officials said Monday.

The Air Force has opposed nuclear waste being shipped to a planned repository through the Nevada Test and Training Range, a 1,375-square mile proving ground for weapons and pilot training.

Also, any Yucca plan that could lead to restrictions on aircraft flying near training corridors "will negatively impact our readiness activities," two Air Force leaders said in a Sept. 11 letter to lawmakers.

"Routes transiting the (Nevada Test and Training Range) or overflight restrictions are untenable," said Air Force Secretary James Roche and Gen. John Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff.

The letter was sent to leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees.

The comments have caught the attention of House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. An aide said Hunter plans "a lot of followup to this."

In their letter, the Air Force leaders described the Nellis range as a "national treasure" permitting large-scale maneuvers, most recently in preparation for the war in Iraq.

They focused on the Pentagon's need for airspace to test and train on new weapons such as the unmanned Predator spy plane and the F-22 Raptor, the next-generation fighter jet.

Air Force officials in the past month have initiated meetings to brief members of the Armed Services committees and other lawmakers about Yucca Mountain, officials said Monday.

The effort was fueled by a House bill that directs the Energy Department to move within 60 days to designate a route for nuclear waste to be shipped to the proposed repository 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, congressional aides said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., met Sept. 10 with Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley about Nellis training and Yucca Mountain, Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said.

Moseley and other Pentagon representatives at the meeting "articulated concerns about routes going through the training facility," Finn said. Ensign sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Jumper delivered the same message in a Sept. 8 meeting with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a Reid spokeswoman said.

Bob Loux, director of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the Air Force has expressed concern for years about the possible effect of the Yucca Mountain Project on Nellis training.

"This is almost identical to letters that former (Air Force) secretaries have sent to DOE," Loux said.

In previous interviews, Energy Department officials said they doubted that air traffic will prove an obstacle to the repository.

Hunter had asked for the Air Force's view on the Yucca Mountain Project during an Aug. 16 visit to Nellis Air Force Base.

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Reno Gazette-Journal
November 04, 2003

Change in Yucca funding up for approval

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — The Yucca Mountain project would be guaranteed at least $725 million in 2005 and beyond if a proposed change to its funding rules wins federal approval.

A bill introduced Friday would satisfy the nuclear industry´s desire to use more money from the Nuclear Waste Fund to build the facility, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Illinois U.S. Reps. John Shimkus, a Republican, and Bobby Rush, a Democrat, introduced the bill.

Nuclear utilities have put about $20 billion into the fund since its creation in 1983 to help finance a permanent place for nuclear waste. Close to $14 billion still sits in the account waiting to be spent on the project.

This has frustrated the nuclear industry, which wants to see the 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel moved to Nevada from on-site storage at the utilities. The industry argues that the money in the account is earmarked specifically for the project but is not being used.

Nevada U.S. Sen. Harry Reid is the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees Yucca spending. He has been successful in the past in getting lower funding levels than what the department has requested for the project.

“There´s no way I will allow DOE to have access to unlimited amounts of money with no accountability,’ Reid said.

Right now the spending bill negotiations are trying to find middle ground between the $765 million approved by the House and the $425 million passed by the Senate.

The department likely will request $1 billion for the program in the near future to keep its licensing and possible construction schedule on track, but it will be hard to satisfy that request without hurting other programs in the bill.

Terry Freese, the Nuclear Energy Institute director of legislative programs, explained that the Shimkus-Rush proposal sets aside at least $725 million for 2005 from the Nuclear Waste Fund that would not fall under the funding cap.

“You could spend from the waste fund without having to compete for other revenues,’ Freese said.

The designated amount would fluctuate each year depending on how much money is put into the nuclear waste fund. Freese called $725 million a “conservative estimate,’ since more money might go into the fund. The number varies each year because it depends on how much nuclear power gets produced.

“Requiring Yucca Mountain to compete with the other energy and water needs of the nation will keep the process open and force those who want to bury nuclear waste in Nevada to justify every dime that is spent on this potentially deadly white elephant,’ said U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas.

Freese said Congress and the department still have the authority to propose any funding level they want, and any additional money beyond the $725 million still would be subject to the bill´s cap.

The industry and the department have tried similar approaches before, even recommending the fund be taken completely out of the appropriations process, but none of the proposals has been approved.

“They lost the battle earlier this year and they´re going to lose the battle again,’ Reid said.

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KRNV
November 04, 2003

Bill would mean $725 million in Yucca funding

The Yucca Mountain project would be guaranteed at least 725 million dollars in 2005 and beyond if a proposed change to its funding rules wins federal approval.

A bill introduced last week would satisfy the nuclear industry's desire to use more money from the Nuclear Waste Fund to build the facility.

Nuclear utilities have put about 20 billion dollars into the fund since its creation in 1983 to help finance a permanent place for nuclear waste. Close to 14 billion dollars still sits in the account waiting to be spent on the project.

This has frustrated the nuclear industry, which wants to see the 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel moved to Nevada from their on-site storage facilities. The industry argues that the money in the account is earmarked specifically for the project but is not being used.

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Las Vegas SUN
November 03, 2003

Plan would hike Yucca funding

Ill. lawmakers seek guarantee

By Suzanne Struglinski
<suzanne@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas SUN

WASHINGTON -- The Yucca Mountain project would be guaranteed at least $725 million in 2005 and beyond if a proposed change to its funding rules wins approval.

Illinois Reps. John Shimkus, a Republican, and Bobby Rush, a Democrat, introduced a bill Friday that would satisfy the nuclear industry's desire to use more money from the Nuclear Waste Fund to build the planned nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Nuclear utilities have paid about $20 billion into the fund since its creation in 1983 to help finance a permanent place for nuclear waste. Close to $14 billion still sits in the account waiting to be spent on the project.

This has frustrated the nuclear industry, which wants to see the 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel moved to Nevada from on-site storage at utilities. It argues that the money in the account is earmarked specifically for the project but is not being used for it.

Each year, like almost all federal programs, the administration proposes a budget for the project and then the House and Senate fit it in among the other programs in the annual energy and water spending bill. The bill is subject to a limit that it cannot exceed. The system pits programs against each other for funding.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid is the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees Yucca spending. He has been successful in the past in getting lower funding levels than what the department has requested for the project.

"There's no way I will allow DOE to have access to unlimited amounts of money with no accountability," Reid said.

Right now the spending bill negotiations are trying to find middle ground between the $765 million approved by the House and the $425 million passed by the Senate.

The department will likely request $1 billion for the program in the near future to keep its licensing and possible construction schedule on track, but it will be hard to satisfy that request without hurting other programs in the bill.

"You could spend from the waste fund without having to compete for other revenues," Freese said.

The designated amount would fluctuate each year depending on how much money is paid into the nuclear waste fund. Freese called $725 million a "conservative estimate," since more money may go into the fund. The number varies each to year since it depends on how much nuclear power gets produced.

"Requiring Yucca Mountain to compete with the other energy and water needs of the nation will keep the process open and force those who want to bury nuclear waste in Nevada to justify every dime that is spent on this potentially deadly white elephant," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "And at a time when we are struggling to fund education, health care, security at home and our military abroad, we should not allow special budget favors for the pro-Yucca crowd."

Freese said Congress and the department still have the authority to propose any funding level they want, and any additional money beyond the $725 million would still be subject to the bill's cap.

The industry and the department have tried similar approaches before, even recommending the fund be taken completely out of the appropriations process, but none of the proposals has been approved.

"They lost the battle earlier this year and they're going to lose the battle again," Reid said.

A Reid aide said the bill is unlikely to pass since none of the appropriators wants to give up any control over the spending process.

Shimkus and Rush are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which will have to approve the bill before it can be considered by all members of the House. Both voted in favored of the House resolution passed last year that allowed the department to move forward with the project. Illinois gets 51. 6 percent of its power from nuclear energy, more than any other state. Ratepayers there have paid just under $3 billion in the Nuclear Waste Fund and just over 6,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel is stored in Illinois.

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Las Vegas SUN
November 04, 2003

Air Force wary of Yucca's impact

Officials say training would be affected by dump

By Suzanne Struglinski
<suzanne@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas SUN

WASHINGTON -- Air Force officials are making a new push to warn congressional leaders that the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository could hurt training and endanger sensitive operations.

Air Force officials are arguing that plans to haul waste through the Nevada Test and Training Range, which is adjacent to the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain, are "untenable."

"The Air Force has consistently stated that we know of no route through the Nevada Test and Training Range that would avoid sensitive areas," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper and Air Force Secretary James Roche wrote in a Sept. 11 letter to various key lawmakers including House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

The Air Force's argument could derail Energy Department plans for the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Yucca Mountain opponents say.

"This by itself can doom the facility," said Martin Malsch, a Washington attorney who represents Nevada in the state's lawsuits seeking to stop the project.

Hunter had requested the Air Force's view of the Energy Department's plan to store 77,000 ton of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, during a Aug. 16 visit to the Nellis Air Force base.

Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, said the agency has not seen the letter yet so he could not comment.

As well as arguing against moving waste through the range, the Air Force is arguing that the Yucca Mountain site could curtail operations out of Nellis Air Force Base because of its location.

In June, the Sun obtained a declassified Energy Department report completed a year earlier that said that airplanes pose a potential danger to both Yucca Mountain and the shipping routes to the mountain. But the report was not clear about how significant or likely that danger would be.

The Energy Department has said that potential plane crashes are not a realistic objection because the specific number of flights that travel over the site, although difficult to pin down, is limited.

But any overflight restrictions on aircraft flying in the training range would "negatively impact our readiness activities," the Air Force officials wrote.

Nellis training ranges are adjacent to Energy Department and Bureau of Land Management property. About 40,000 flights pass through the base's nearly 3 million-acre air range each year, including combat training exercises using live ammunition four times a year, according to some estimates.

The department, though, says there shouldn't be much of a threat because most of the waste would be stored underground, deep inside the volcanic ridge.

The Air Force leaders have encouraged lawmakers to get more information on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility's possible effects on the Air Force range.

Their arguments add another level of debate to Nevada's opposition to the project.

"It adds more fuel but also adds its own set of problems," Malsch said. "If DOE was thinking about reducing airplane crashes by making a deal with the Air Force, this is a sign that is not going to happen."

Malsch said the Air Force's position not only affects how the Energy Department will be able to select transportation routes, but also its ability to show that potential airplane crashes are not a threat.

To try to mitigate concerns about moving waste, House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Hobson, R-Ohio, has suggested the department use a route north of Las Vegas that would run through Lincoln County. He suggested that a line be included in the House energy and water spending bill that shipments of spent fuel should not go through "the environs of metropolitan" Las Vegas.

But even that proposed route, which runs north of Las Vegas through Lincoln County, would affect the range, the Air Force officials wrote.

The Air Force position "is yet another example of how the Yucca Mountain plan is critically flawed at every level," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, who is one of the senators working out differences between the House and Senate spending bills.

Malsch said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that will ultimately decide to license the facility, has sent the department "back to the drawing board" with its preliminary work on the issue.

He added that its does not take a lot of flights over the mountain by military planes to reach the probability limits set in the commission rules.

Malsch said the possibility of an airplane crash is one of the "key technical issues" the department working to answers.

"I can't believe they can push it off now," Malsch said.

The "key technical issues" are unresolved scientific and technical question the commission wants the Energy Department to answer.

"The Air Force is as concerned as everyone else about the dangers of transporting nuclear waste," Reid said. "Tens of thousands of shipments of nuclear waste will pass through areas where jet fighters are flying, and it certainly isn't rocket science to figure out the dangers posed by that scenario."

The Air Force officials wrote that all the military branches and other agencies use the training range for test flight and "mission-critical systems evaluations," including 75 percent of all Air Force live munitions.

The range allows large-scale operation training, which was a "critical resource" for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Jumper and Roche wrote.

They encouraged Hunter to get a briefing from the Air Force Ranges and Airspace Associate Directorate and the Air Force Test and Evaluation Office to explain why waste transportation routes and overflight restrictions are "untenable."

A committee spokeswoman said it is "more or less a readiness issue" and that Hunter wants to make sure people are still able to train. She did not know when the meetings would be but added that they could be classified since they would discuss sensitive information.

Hunter voted in favor of allowing the Energy Department to move forward with the Yucca project last year.

Potential plane crashes have stalled efforts for Private Fuel Storage, an interim nuclear waste storage site slated for Utah's Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has rejected its license application based on safety concerns for the the Utah Test and Training Air Force range.

The board has said the company failed to adequately demonstrate that there was not a significant risk of an F-16 crash into the storage facility.

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Las Vegas SUN
November 04, 2003

Air Force: Shipping nuke waste to Nevada dump could hurt Nellis

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Air Force leaders are warning Congress that training might be crimped at Nellis Air Force Base if radioactive waste is shipped across the bombing range to a nuclear dump in the Nevada desert.

Restricting training flights to allow shipments of nuclear waste through the Nevada Test and Training Range to Yucca Mountain would be "untenable," Air Force Secretary James Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper said in a Sept. 11 letter to leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Tuesday that the letter was prompted by a House bill that directs the Energy Department to designate a route within 60 days for nuclear waste shipments to the proposed repository, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The Air Force leaders described the 1,375-square mile Nellis range as a "national treasure," that permits large-scale training and the testing of new weapons such as the unmanned Predator spy plane and the F-22 Raptor.

The range abuts the Nevada Test Site, which encompasses Yucca Mountain, picked last year as the site to entomb the nation's highly radioactive waste.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, met Sept. 10 with Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley about Nellis training and Yucca Mountain, Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said.

Moseley and other Pentagon representatives "articulated concerns about routes going through the training facility," Finn said.

Jumper delivered the same message in a Sept. 8 meeting with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a Reid spokeswoman said.

Bob Loux, director of Nevada's anti-Yucca state Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the Air Force has expressed concern for years about the possible effect of the Yucca Mountain project on Nellis training.

Energy Department officials have said they doubted air traffic would prove to be an obstacle to the repository.

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Las Vegas SUN
November 04, 2003

Editorial: Another end-around

Las Vegas SUN

Illinois Reps. John Shimkus, a Republican, and Bobby Rush, a Democrat, have introduced legislation that would require at least $725 million be spent every year on the Yucca Mountain project. The nuclear power industry, which backs the bill, obviously is upset that Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the ranking Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee that oversees Yucca Mountain, in the past has been able to cut the program's budget.

In previous sessions, the industry has sought to significantly reduce budgetary oversight of the project's budget by trying to get Congress to take the Yucca Mountain project's budget completely out of the appropriations process. Congress, however, has sensibly refused to buy into the nuclear power industry's arguments for less oversight.

The federal government's proposal to ship cross-country 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste and bury it in Nevada deserves more accountability, not less. Congress should reject the establishment of an unnecessary floor to fund the Yucca Mountain project.

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Las Vegas SUN
November 03, 2003

Plan would increase funding for Yucca Mountain project

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Yucca Mountain project would be guaranteed at least $725 million in 2005 and beyond if a proposed change to its funding rules wins federal approval.

A bill introduced Friday would satisfy the nuclear industry's desire to use more money from the Nuclear Waste Fund to build the facility, which is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Illinois Reps. John Shimkus, a Republican, and Bobby Rush, a Democrat, introduced the bill.

"There's no way I will allow DOE to have access to unlimited amounts of money with no accountability," Reid told The Las Vegas Sun.

Right now the spending bill negotiations are trying to find middle ground between the $765 million approved by the House and the $425 million passed by the Senate.

"You could spend from the waste fund without having to compete for other revenues," Freese said.

The designated amount would fluctuate each year depending on how much money is put into the nuclear waste fund. Freese called $725 million a "conservative estimate," since more money may go into the fund. The number varies each to year since it depends on how much nuclear power gets produced.

Freese said Congress and the department still have the authority to propose any funding level they want, and any additional money beyond the $725 million would still be subject to the bill's cap.

The industry and the department have tried similar approaches before, even recommending the fund be taken completely out of the appropriations process, but none of the proposals has been approved.

"They lost the battle earlier this year and they're going to lose the battle again," Reid said.

Information from: Las Vegas Sun

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Las Vegas Review Journal
November 03, 2003

Political Notebook: One Assemblyman could have triple-dipped

Knecht works for Public Utilities Commission, taught class at college

By Erin Neff
Review-Journal

While news of double-dipping lawmakers has been widely reported, one Assemblyman actually had the potential to take three scoops from public sources.

Assemblyman Ron Knecht, R-Carson City, is an economist with the Public Utilities Commission who taught a class at Western Nevada Community College during this year's legislative session.

Knecht was on unpaid leave from his state job during the session but did draw $1,710 from the college for teaching microeconomics while he was being paid as a lawmaker.

Knecht said he thought teaching the class was "an entirely reasonable thing to do."

A petition drive seeking to ban public employees from holding elected office would prohibit the type of part-time work Knecht performed.

Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, also taught at WNCC during the session, earning $1,710 for a one-night-a-week course in state and local government.

"I had the kind of practical knowledge that could help the students learn beyond the lectures and the textbooks," Conklin said.

Both he and Knecht said that adjunct teaching positions should not be prohibited.

Neither lawmaker served on the Education Committee or on Ways and Means, which determines budgets.

Knecht said that, if re-elected, he planned to introduce legislation allowing public employees to work up to 10 hours a week during the legislative session to cover adjunct teaching jobs.

Neither Knecht nor Conklin support the petition drive.

McCain's prime seat

Some boxing fans took notice when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sat alongside HBO Sports President Ross Greenberg at the Sept. 13 super welterweight title bout between Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

McCain is sponsoring a boxing reform bill calling for federal regulation of promoters. But the bill's critics complain McCain goes soft on HBO and other cable networks that also play roles in promoting fights.

HBO executives have contributed $5,000 to McCain over the past four years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

McCain scoffed when asked whether HBO's contributions had influenced his bill.

"Four years? Five thousand dollars?" McCain asked sarcastically.

McCain also said he paid for his ticket to the De La Hoya-Mosley fight. He didn't say how much it cost.

"I always pay for my own tickets," he said.

Woodbury honor

As a general rule, you have to be dead to get on a stamp. But U.S. Rep. Jon Porter is making sure Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury gets his name on a post office now.

Porter introduced House Resolution 2254, which has passed the House and Senate, to name the U.S. postal facility in Boulder City after Woodbury.

"Bruce Woodbury represents everything that is good about public service," Porter said.

Woodbury has been on the commission for 22 years, through two major public corruption investigations, without any questions about his actions.

Complaint never filed

As the fight in Congress over Yucca Mountain was heating up back in November 2001, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed action against Winston & Strawn LLP, a law firm that had done work for the Energy Department on the nuclear waste project.

Reid announced he would file a complaint with the Illinois Bar Association seeking sanctions against the Chicago-based firm following reports the company had conflicts of interest on the Yucca program.

Asked then why he was pursuing the company, Reid declared, "I believe in vengeance!"

But Reid's spokeswoman has confirmed the senator never filed the complaint. The task was assigned to an aide and it fell through the cracks.

Lieberman visit

Another Democratic presidential candidate will undoubtedly talk about Yucca Mountain when he comes to Las Vegas this month to raise money.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., will be in town Nov. 19 for a fund-raiser hosted by former Sen. Richard Bryan, former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones and developer Hal Ober and his wife, Dee.

Tickets are $1,000 for the lunch at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Lieberman voted against Yucca Mountain resolutions in Congress and campaigned against the proposed repository twice in Nevada during his bid for vice president in 2000.

But back in 1999, he asked the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee to include "accelerated waste acceptance" in repository legislation.

Stephens Washington Bureau staff writers Steve Tetreault and Tony Batt contributed to this report.

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Reno Gazette-Journal
November 03, 2003

Editorial: Politics of dump well known

Nobody really expects the federal government to back off its plan to turn Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste dump simply because Nevadans are against it.

Yet, the response of the U.S. Department of Energy to a poll showing that 66 percent of Nevadans support the state´s fight against the project is disappointing.

The department continues the charade that the decision is strictly scientific — “We would not move forward if we didn´t think it was safe,’ a spokesman said — when Nevadans know quite well that the decision is political. Yucca Mountain is the only site under scrutiny because political power was wielded and Nevada lost.

Yucca Mountain may well be the best site, but the federal government is far from proving that. It certainly makes little scientific sense, however, to transport the waste that has been accumulating for three decades at nuclear power plants primarily in the East and Midwest all the way across the country to a state that has no nuclear facilities. And there are indications that Yucca Mountain may not be as safe as the government would have us believe.

The latest poll demonstrates that Nevadans understand those facts well. Too bad the feds don´t.

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
November 02, 2003

Most Nevadans undecided in 2004 presidential race

By Erin Neff
Review-Journal

A vast majority of Nevadans are still undecided about whether they'll vote to re-elect George Bush president next year, according to a poll conducted for the Review-Journal and reviewjournal.com.

Just 23 percent of those surveyed statewide said they will vote for Bush regardless of his Democratic opponent, and 37 percent of Republicans in Clark County said they'd do the same.

Democrats were surprised by the numbers and suggested the president is losing his support base.

"I'm stunned," said Lindsey Jydstrup, director of the Legislative Democratic Caucus. "It's going to make it a lot easier to go to work on Monday."

But pollster Marvin Longabaugh, whose firm conducted the research, said the survey does not indicate a wavering of support for Bush, who won Nevada in 2000.

"This poll indicates to me that he's the odds-on favorite to win it," said Longabaugh, owner of Magellan Research.

One of the reasons Longabaugh, a registered Republican, is confident in Bush's electability is because of the way the five possible answers to the survey question were worded.

Respondents could choose to definitely vote for Bush or the Democratic nominee, or likely vote for either given the performance of the economy and developments in the war.

Lastly, respondents were given a choice to "evaluate all candidates, including those from third parties, and choose the candidate that best represents my views."

In Clark County, 41 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans chose that option. Statewide, 44 percent of the 601 Nevadans polled from Oct. 24-28 said they would continue to evaluate the candidates.

"If Republicans aren't happy with their president, where do they go?" he asked. "They're not going to go to the Democrats."

The survey, which has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, did not ask respondents whether they would vote for any of the nine specific Democratic candidates.

Statewide, 20 percent of respondents said they would vote for whichever Democrat runs against Bush. In Clark County, 35 percent of Democrats said they would vote for the Democratic nominee, no matter who it is.

In Washoe County, 37 percent of Republicans said they would vote for Bush. In rural Nevada, that number was 32 percent.

About 13 percent of Clark County Republicans surveyed agreed with the statement, "I will probably vote for President Bush, but a lot depends on what happens with the war and the economy." About 7 percent of Clark County Democrats surveyed said they would probably vote for the Democratic candidate, depending on the same national developments.

"Clearly the president is hemorrhaging in Nevada which may explain why he plans to visit Nevada for the first time during his administration," said Rebecca Lambe, executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party. "Nevada knows this administration is not serving its interests."

Lambe said she thought Nevada would end up voting Democratic and that the state would have an impact nationally in the race.

But Gov. Kenny Guinn said the poll results do not reflect his experiences as he speaks to groups across the state.

"I believe that he's in very good shape here with the Republicans," Guinn said. "I'm out all the time speaking to people and talking to them about our situation with the economy and I think his base is fine."

Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for Bush-Cheney '04, said she believed the poll indicates the president continues to have support in the Silver State.

"We expect to be competitive in Nevada because of the president's leadership on issues," Schmitt said.

Schmitt also said the campaign is working to build a grass-roots network in Nevada to promote the president's re-election bid.

Guinn suggested Bush's numbers might not be higher because the public is paying more attention right now to the nine Democratic candidates.

"It's also very early," Guinn added.

Longabaugh said that although the economy and war may impact a voter's decision in next year's election, he didn't think the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain would have a significant impact. On that issue, Bush has been derided by Democrats, who consider hollow his promise before the 2000 election to rely on "sound science" in deciding whether to recommend Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste site.

"It's his race to lose as long as there are no disasters," Longabaugh said.

Political observers said the president's support in Nevada is also key to voter efforts down ticket.

Sean Sinclair, campaign manager for Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's re-election efforts, said he thinks the numbers should be a concern for the GOP.

"Any Republican running in the state of Nevada has got to be scared that the president of the United States is going to bring them down with them in the next election cycle," Sinclair said.

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Michigan Live
November 02, 2003

Abraham hits his stride at energy agency

By Sarah Kellogg
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Congress is expected to approve a comprehensive energy bill within the next few weeks that will detail the nation's energy policy from oil exploration to hydrogen fuel research - and that will have Spencer Abraham's fingerprints all over it.

The U.S. energy secretary's name won't be on that bill, but its passage will be due in part to the former senator from Michigan's persistence and legislative skill.

"I think he's definitely tried to keep the whole energy issue on the front burner," said Charli Coon, an energy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy group. "He's understood that we needed a comprehensive energy policy, not some piecemeal approach."

Since becoming a member of President Bush's cabinet on Jan. 20, 2001, Abraham has faced a world of trouble - literally. He's been charged with ensuring that nuclear power plants and weapons sites are safe from terrorist attacks in the wake of 9/11. And he's worked with the Russians to safeguard their nuclear weapons from terrorists as well.

At home he's had to quell the uproar over the proposed burying of high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nev. He was busy doing that on "60 Minutes" just last week.

Then there was the Blackout of 2003. In August Abraham became the face of an administration besieged by critics for its failure to maintain electric power lines. While the blackout investigation continues, Abraham has worked to ease fears that it could happen again.

"There are moments when every cabinet member has to step up to the plate because of a controversy that reaches the front pages, and each one is judged by his or her performance," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "I'd say that Abraham has done well in those circumstances, and his quiet competence is respected in the only place it matters - inside the White House."

The East Lansing native seemed an unlikely choice for energy secretary. His closest contact with the industry before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 was turning up the thermostat in his home, critics said when he was nominated.

Since then, Abraham has mastered energy issues with the same fervor he brought to counting votes as the Michigan GOP Party chair and serving as chief of staff for former Vice President Dan Quayle in the 1980s.

But when he keeps a low profile, as most cabinet secretaries do, political wags chortle: "Spence who?" When he's front-and-center on the blackout, he's labeled the official fall guy. When he travels to foreign nations to discuss oil production or nuclear nonproliferation, as he does often, some say he's taking advantage of the travel privileges afforded cabinet chiefs.

Abraham shakes off the criticism and says he enjoys finally being in a position "where I can make things happen on my own." Of course, ironically, that position wouldn't exist at all if Congress had approved Abraham's bill in the 1990s to abolish the department.

He now manages an Energy Department with a budget of $23 billion and more than 100,000 federal and contractual employees. Abraham keeps tabs on its many different agencies and missions while helping develop national and international energy policies.

The department's National Nuclear Security Administration oversees the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile to ensure that it is secure and in good working order. It also works with foreign nations to dismantle aging nuclear weapons, such as those in Russia and the Ukraine.

The department also operates 24 research laboratories and technology centers that focus on energy-related research.

"It's an unusual combination of different agencies and laboratories," said Abraham. "There's never a dull moment. Every day you have a new challenge."

That's why his success at mastering the details of the job from nuclear weapons maintenance to hydrogen fuel research comes as no surprise to those who have watched his career over the last 30 years.

The legislative and executive branches of government require two very different sets of skills, said Craig Ruff, president of Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing policy group.

"Some people make it (the transition) and some people don't," Ruff said. "I think Spence enjoys the policy-making and policy analysis more than brokering among a myriad of special-interest groups. Spence has made the transition, and better than most."

Environmentalists beg to differ. They say Abraham has embraced the energy industry, ignoring concerns that the Bush administration's energy policies could harm the environment.

"Under Spencer Abraham, we're focused more on tearing up our country to expand uses of energy sources of yesterday instead of looking at expanding our uses of technology for tomorrow," said Mike Casey, a spokesman for the Environmental Working Group, based in Washington.

And some in Michigan feel Abraham isn't helping his home state as much as he could. They say the political largess that comes with weighty cabinet appointments hasn't made its way back to Michigan in the form of grants or projects.

But his friends in Congress say that's not what he should be doing.

"He certainly has a broader mission than Michigan," said Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids. "It's natural once you assume a federal office that you have to be conscious of issues in every state of the union, not just your own."

Personally, the job has been a gift to Abraham, allowing him to be near home to watch his children grow up. Abraham the politician often found himself campaigning and missing important events in the lives of his twin daughters and son.

While he misses going back to Michigan every weekend as he did while serving in the Senate (the family no longer owns a home here), Abraham admits that he has more control over his schedule as secretary than he ever did as a candidate or a senator.

Abraham has said that he will stay on as energy secretary as long as the president wants him there, declining to jump ship at mid-term to cash in on his contacts.

His wife, Jane, isn't surprised that he's willing to stay. Her husband has found his niche, coming out of the painful Senate defeat in 2000 to take on a position that demands a sharp mind, political deftness and a sense of humor.

"Spence is in some pretty tough situations in dealing with international leaders, and he has done really well," she said of her husband's successful efforts to negotiate the dismantling of Russian nuclear weapons. "This has been extraordinarily rewarding and challenging for him."

Contact reporter Sarah Kellogg at (202) 383-7810 or e-mail her at skellogg@boothnewspapers.com.

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
November 01, 2003

Yucca Mountain: DOE denies corrosion allegations

Panel finds fault with canister design

By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is disputing an independent science panel's findings that the DOE's preferred design for a Nevada nuclear waste repository would cause canisters of spent nuclear fuel to corrode and leak radioactive particles.

A statement this week from Margaret Chu, head of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, is feeding debate among scientists on a key element of the Yucca Mountain Project.

Chu told members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board their assessment was based on a scenario of "extreme and highly unlikely" repository conditions the DOE does not accept as realistic.

The review board, an expert body created by Congress, reported Oct. 21 that a "hot temperature" design DOE is considering would perforate corrosion-resistant waste containers and cause radionuclides to escape relatively early in the repository's planned 10,000-year performance life.

"I do not agree that the data cited by the board support such definitive conclusions," Chu responded in a letter made public Thursday.

The Alloy-22 containers that would be spaced within repository tunnels hold the key to determining whether Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, might safely hold 77,000 tons of radioactive waste, officials said.

Canister performance "is the linchpin of the whole deal and the review board letter has caused a real problem for DOE on whether it goes forward," said Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

Seeking to buttress its position, the Energy Department released a letter from Per F. Peterson, chairman of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Peterson questioned the review board's conclusions. He said it was "probably premature to conclude that localized corrosion is likely to occur" during the period when the repository will be at its hottest temperatures from decaying fuel.

Peterson said he doubted all the elements would be present in the repository -- heat, high relative humidity and dust salts -- that would be necessary to form coatings that would cause pitting, crevice corrosion and stress cracking.

Peterson could not be reached for comment Friday. DOE spokesman Joe Davis said Peterson is not associated with the Yucca program and receives no funding.

Officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Electric Power Research Institute, the research arm of the utility industry, also have registered dissenting views to the technical review board, said Daniel Bullen, a board member and one of its corrosion experts.

Bullen, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, said the board reached its conclusions by examining DOE's own data.

"This is a very significant issue," Bullen said. "The board did not make its claims lightly. We spent a good deal of time looking at the data the DOE provided us. Some might claim we made assumptions that were not correct, but I don't think so."

The staff of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board is reviewing Peterson's letter, staff director William Barnard said.

Barnard said the review board plans to release a 20- to 30-page technical report in a few weeks that will provide backup for its conclusions.

Rather than proceed with a "hot" design that would cause repository rock to heat to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the review board advised DOE to explore a "cold" design.

"The board tried to make the point but perhaps we were not as emphatic as we could have been," Bullen said. "That this is an issue that is easy to avoid. You just don't go to a hot regime."

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
November 01, 2003

Yucca funding push revived

Two Illinois lawmakers introduce bill to ease access to money

By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of the Yucca Mountain Project began a new bid Friday to speed up funding for the proposed Nevada nuclear waste repository.

Two Illinois congressmen introduced a bill that would allow lawmakers to set aside at least $725 million each year for the repository program without having the money count against congressional spending limits.

While largely an inside-the-Beltway accounting device, the change would make it easier for the Energy Department to gain access to money sitting in a special nuclear waste fund that was set up to pay for most of the Yucca project, supporters said. Its current balance is about $14.6 billion.

Even though the account is dedicated for nuclear waste disposal, the Yucca project must compete with other energy programs for funding each year under congressional budget rules. The situation has frustrated industry officials and prompted attempts in recent years to change the law.

But past efforts to reclassify the nuclear waste fund have been opposed by lawmakers who don't want to change budget rules or limit their powers to decide where money should be spent.

Nevada members of Congress said they will fight the new bill.

"The nuclear industry and its congressional allies are licking their lips at the thought of loosening the purse strings for Yucca Mountain in order to pour billions of dollars into this ill-conceived project," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Friday.

"They're going to lose the battle again," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a Yucca Mountain opponent who successfully has led efforts to reduce funding that DOE seeks for the project each year.

The new legislation is being promoted by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the political arm of the nuclear power industry, which supports the Yucca Mountain Project.

Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., and Bobby Rush, D-Ill., agreed to sponsor the measure. Both are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which considers major nuclear bills. Shimkus has toured Yucca Mountain on an NEI-funded trip.

Terry Freese, NEI director of legislative programs, said the bill is similar to how Congress treats the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which also is funded in part through nuclear industry fees.

Freese said that if enacted, the bill would allow DOE to obtain enough money from the waste fund to keep pace with its growing expenses at Yucca Mountain. DOE next year is expected to request more than $1 billion to keep the project on schedule.

"This is an approach that, if enacted, would provide sufficient income based on budget projections," Freese said. "We're trying to get this done a step at a time."

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Las Vegas SUN
October 31, 2003

Yucca Project director Chu disputes corrosion conclusions

By Suzanne Struglinski
<suzanne@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas SUN

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department disagrees with an independent panel's recent conclusions about corrosion inside its planned nuclear waste storage site at Yucca Mountain, saying all the information has not been reviewed.

Last week, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board sent a letter to the department outlining concerns about possible corrosion of metal inside the storage site set to hold 77,000 tons of nuclear waste about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"I am deeply disappointed by the premature release of the letter's contents," wrote Margaret Chu, director of the department's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management that oversees the Yucca Project in a letter to sent Board Chairman Michael Corradini on Monday. "I do not agree that the data cited by the Board support such definitive conclusions."

Chu said she had concerns that statements in the letter saying that crevice corrosion is "likely to initiate" and that "the data in hand (indicating) that localized corrosion is likely" were taken out of context from the Board's data expected to be issued a a later date.

"The Board's conclusions did not acknowledge the dependence of those results on the existence of extreme and unlikely environmental conditions, nor did the letter say where the Board believes that such conditions are likely to occur," Chu wrote. "The outcome is an incorrect implication that the data show that localized corrosion and waste package perforation are 'likely' to' or even 'will' occur."

But Chu ended the letter saying she appreciated that the Board's letter "relates to the thermal operating conditions of the repository, and not to the ability to dispose of waste safely at Yucca Mountain."

She also assured the board that the department "will not dismiss the Board's corrosion concerns" as part of the total performance assessment, as advised in the board's letter but added that the assessment is required by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Board has no specific date on when the corresponding report to the letter will be released, according to a staff member. Members are putting the finishing touches on it now but it still needs further review.

Nevada's Yucca Mountain attorney in Washington, Joe Egan, said, "This is a very defensive letter and not characteristic of Margaret Chu at all."

"My view is that they are running scared," he said. "This project is unraveling at the seams."

Egan said Nevada's own studies have confirmed that corrosion will take place in a hot or cold repository design.

He disagreed with her conclusion that the board's findings do not affect the overall safety of waste disposal at the mountain.

"We don't think that is the case at all. This dramatically calls into question the safety of the repository," Egan said, adding that the board never said a cold repository would be safer.

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Las Vegas SUN
October 31, 2003

75 percent of Nevadans oppose Yucca dumpsite

By Suzanne Struglinski
<suzanne@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas SUN

WASHINGTON -- A majority of Nevadans are still opposed to the Energy Department's plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, a new poll indicates.

A poll conducted for Nevada released Thursday found that 75 percent oppose locating the high-level waste storage site at Yucca Mountain about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Only slightly more than 20 percent support the project, according to the results.

Congress voted to allow the Energy Department to move forward with the federal repository last year after decades of research, and just as much opposition by the state.

Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed the project but procedures laid out in federal law allowed Congress to override it.

The Energy Department anticipates submitting an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 2004, but the state hopes its lawsuits will stop the project in its tracks.

A federal court will hear arguments between the state and federal government on several court cases on Jan. 14.

The survey, which had a 4.5 percent margin of error, indicated that 65 percent of 401 Nevada residents polled support the state's legal action against the site, even if it means turning down potential benefits from the goverment. The survey found that 30 percent of the Nevadans surveyed wanted to make deal.

The report shows that the amount of opposition to the program has "remained consistently high for the past 13 years" and these results are similar to polls taken since 1989.

Close to 64 percent said the Energy Department cannot be trusted while just above 32 percent said the department can be trusted.

"Nevadans obviously have not been fooled by the DOE's charade," Amy Spanbauer, spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Gibons, R-Nev., said this morning. Gibbons was en route to Nevada this morning.

"This survey shows that the people of Nevada understand the real threat and safety risks associated with transporting high-level nuclear waste across the entire country to a hole in the Nevada desert," Spanbauer said.

"The evaluation process of Yucca Mountain has never been fair or unbiased, and the people know it. We will continue to work with the state and our colleagues in the Nevada delegation to stop the Yucca Mountain project on behalf of the people of Nevada. Their concerns are legitimate and must be addressed. Protecting the health and safety of the people of Nevada is priority number one.' A University of Oregon affiliate, Northwest Survey and Data Services in Eugene, Ore., conducted the random phone survey. Thirty-four percent of the Nevadans surveyed identified themselves as Democrats, 44 percent as Republican, eight percent as independent and four percent either identified themselves as with another party or did not want to answer.

Nevadans of all party affiliations "have always opposed becoming the nation's nuclear garbage dump and they won't risk their safety for questionable benefits that will never outweigh the potential economic harm caused by Yucca Mountain,' Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said.

"This survey shows strong concern among Nevadans about an accident or terrorist attack on shipments of nuke waste," she said. " Once people in other parts of the country know that this waste is coming through their community, there is bound to be widespread opposition. That is why we must continue to educate the rest of America about the dangers of sending 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain." Meanwhile, a statewide survey conducted in June for the Nuclear Energy Institute showed that 88 percent of the 500 surveyed said they expected Yucca Mountain would wind up as the nation's nuclear dump site. That survey had a 4.5 percent margin of error, according to Jan van Lohuizen, with Voter Consumer Research, the firm in Washington that did the poll. Van Lohuizen said the poll also asked that if the site was going to come to the state anyway should state officials negotiate for federal benefits. Of the 500 polled, 76 percent said the state should negotiate for b! enefits. Education topped the list for preferred beneficiaries of Yucca money, at 57 percent, with roads and health care help not far behind.

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Las Vegas SUN
October 31, 2003

Letter: Yucca would be looming disaster

Las Vegas' air quality has been affected by smoke billowing from multiple wildfires in California. I found it truly amazing -- and distressing -- to see the normally clear, blue sky of our valley so suddenly and quickly obliterated by smoke emanating some 200 miles to the west. It seems that despite mankind's best efforts, Mother Nature will always have the last word when it comes to the wide-ranging effects of disasters, both natural and man-made.

Which brings me to the Bush administration's eyes-wide-closed plans to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. This is a disaster waiting to happen, a disaster whose scale would make the current wildfires in California look like a walk in the park by comparison.

No one will ever, ever be able to guarantee the 100 percent safety of the Yucca Mountain site as a repository for nuclear waste, any more than encyclopedic building codes, well-trained and equipped emergency forces and uncommon environmental awareness were any guarantee against the ravages of the current disaster in California. The only thing that we can be sure of is that when a disaster occurs at Yucca (and it will), our feeble attempts at containment will be no match for the non-discriminating power and unpredictability of nature's own elemental onslaught.

Heaven help us when that day comes!

Mark Stenroos

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
October 31, 2003

Nuclear waste opposition still strong

Poll shows 65 percent of Nevadans want to continue battle against Yucca Mountain dump

By Juliet V. Casey
Review-Journal

A poll commissioned by the state shows 65 percent of Nevadans still want to fight the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, while 30 percent believe the state should deal with the federal government for benefits in exchange for letting the project go forward.

"These results should put to rest any notion that Nevadans are prepared to give up the fight and meekly accept a project that is both unsafe and unnecessary," Robert Loux, executive director of the Governor's Agency for Nuclear Projects, said of the results released Thursday.

But one critic said there was a "gaping hole" in the information provided to survey respondents.

The survey of 401 Nevadans, conducted between Oct. 4 and Oct. 22, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Results of the poll, conducted by Northwest Survey and Data Services of Eugene, Ore., stand in contrast to recent polls by the Nuclear Energy Institute, which showed as many as 76 percent of Nevadans believe political leaders should begin negotiating for benefits.

In 1990, a Review-Journal poll showed 23 percent wanted to deal; by January 2002, that figure had risen to 33 percent.

Former Gov. Robert List, a lobbyist for the NEI, said he wasn't surprised a majority of the state's poll respondents still would choose to fight the project. But he criticized questions that tied negotiating with the federal government to giving up the fight.

"They make it an either-or question, should we deal or should we fight?" he said. "They don't ask, 'How many of you think it's inevitable?' And that's a gaping hole in the survey."

Loux said List's comments reflect the industry's strategy of trying to convince Nevadans the repository, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is inevitable.

Loux said if Nevada agrees to enter negotiations for benefits, that would imply consent for the project and ultimately signal surrender.

The survey showed most Nevadans continue to support filing lawsuits to stop the project.

"The dump is not inevitable," Loux said.

The survey also asked whether respondents agreed with Yucca Mountain project supporters who say the Department of Energy can be trusted to live up to any benefits agreement the government would make with Nevada. Nevadans, about two to one, disagreed.

List said those results did not surprise him either. "I think people have a natural distrust of the federal government," he said.

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KLAS
October 31, 2003

Battle Over Yucca Mountain

Casey Roebuck, reporter

Oct. 30) -- A new poll about Yucca Mountain shows most Nevadans want to fight the project. 75 percent of people polled oppose storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Only slightly more than 20 percent support the project. The study also showd that 65 percent supported continuing to fight the project. Only 30 percent favored making a deal with the federal government.

(Oct. 27) -- Yucca Mountain may have been in the national spot-light Sunday night, but it has been an issue for Nevadans for the past 20-years. Now that the opening date for the facility has been set for the year 2010, advocates on both sides of the issue are digging in their heels.

Mayor Oscar Goodman played a big role in the 60 Minutes expose about the dangers of Yucca Mountain. That appearance set off a strong reaction from viewers in Las Vegas.

"I've been out and about all day long to different places, schools, speeches and everybody is coming up and they are saying you're right on mayor," said Mayor Goodman.

Las Vegas Sun Editor Brian Greenspun also sounded off about his opposition to the project. Greenspun's office has also been inundated with calls and emails from viewers who appose the storage of nuclear waste just 90-miles northwest of Las Vegas.

If Yucca Mountain is granted it's license to operate, 77-thousand tons of radio-active nuclear waste will make it's way down highways and railways -- right through the heart of Las Vegas. That idea scares concerned residents like Trisha Zybrowski who feels the project was forced on Nevada. "They did not concern themselves with the transportation of that nuclear waste," said Zybrowski.

Although she's concerned, she and others fear the project will become a reality. So if Nevada residents must bear the burden they want to capitalize on the $60 billion project. "If they are going to shove it down our throats they better pay for it," continued Zybrowski.

Jay Campanili, another concerned citizen stated, "60-billion dollars is a lot of money for the state of Nevada to aquire. So it has it's ups and it's downs."

Goodman says there is no room for negotiatations. "There was a time when the conversation was -- They said let's see what we can get in exchange for it. And to me, that is a waiver of our position. And Idon't believe that it will ever come through Las Vegas.. Not as long I am the mayor, I can promise you that," Goodman stated.

Nevada has five lawsuits in the works to try and prevent Yucca Mountian from opening. Giving advocates like Bob Loux hope that it won't come to fruition. "I think it's shows like this that demonstrate it's not a done deal. I think the rest of the country does not think it's done deal," Loux told Eyewitness News.

The same view is not shared by former Nevada Governor Bob List. List said, "The political decision has been made." List says Yucca Mountian is going to happen. If our state must bear the burden, we should begin the process of negotiation so that we can profit from $60 billion project.

"It's an enormous amount of money that is being spent right here in Southern Nevada. So we ought to capitalize on the monitory end of it; on the payroll, on the purchasing, and the supplies.

Loux's counterpoint, "This is an idea that angers those still fighting the nuclear waste dump. "They produced a game plan in the 90s that said the way we win Yucca Mountain is to convince Nevada leaders that it's inevitable. By doing that try to get them to negoicate, which is code words for giving up."

List says it's not a matter of giving up. It's a matter of being realistic. "I think it's a serious mistake for the state of Nevada, or the elected officials to sit back and say we're going to win it and ignore the fact that we ought to be looking at the benefits," commented List.

Those still fighting the battle against Yucca Mountian say it's simply too soon to give up the fight. The Department of Energy must still conduct several studies before the Yucca Mountain Project can be granted a license to operate. Right now right nuclear waste is being stored at smaller facilities in 39 states across the United States.

If theYucca Mountain Project is granted a license to store nuclear waste, the DOE could start shipping waste here by the year 2010.

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Las Vegas SUN
October 31, 2003

Brief news stories from Las Vegas

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and other lawmakers are pushing for the Labor Department to take over worker compensation claims to speed up payments to Nevada Test Site employees who are ill from work-related exposure to chemicals and radiation.

A provision in a pending bill would transfer the responsibility away from the Energy Department, which compiles employee work and medical records. An independent physician panel currently determines if the exposure to harmful materials caused the illness.

"Former nuclear weapons workers throughout the country are in dire need of assistance," Berkley and others wrote in a letter to House appropriators. "The Department of Energy's poor record on claims processing necessitates a change in the current (law). The Department of Labor has a proven record of success, and we owe it to these workers to transfer claims processing duties to those who have the expertise."

Some 2,000 claims have been filed involving the Nevada Test Site, with about $11.5 million paid on 89 claims.

Yucca Mountain

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Energy Department disagrees with an independent panel's recent conclusions about corrosion inside its planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, saying all the information has not been reviewed.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board sent a letter to the department outlining concerns about possible corrosion of metal containers inside the site set to hold 77,000 tons of nuclear waste about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Chu said she had concerns statements were taken out of context.

UMC Chief

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Clark County officials have offered the job of leading the state's largest hospital to the director of a historic Chicago hospital familiar to millions from its appearances in television and movies.

Lacy Thomas, director of the John H. Stroger Hospital in Chicago, said Thursday he will take the job as chief executive officer of the University Medical System and its satellites, including a network of urgent care centers.

Thomas' hospital, formerly known as Cook County Hospital, provides the setting for the popular medical drama "ER," and was the backdrop for scenes from the movie, "The Fugitive."

During his tenure as chief financial officer of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, Thomas reorganized patient billing functions to increase collections and took other steps to stop revenue losses.

Former Director Bill Hale had met with criticism for not doing more to curtail a $37 million deficit at the county hospital.

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Las Vegas SUN
October 30, 2003

Poll: 65 percent of Nevadans oppose nuclear waste dump at Yucca

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Three-fourths of Nevadans think the state should not be home to a high-level nuclear waste repository, according to a poll released Thursday.

The state, which is opposed to the repository, commissioned the survey.

It found about 75 percent of respondents statewide would vote against a plan to bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste in tunnels below Yucca Mountain.

The Bush administration and Congress have approved the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, but the final OK will come from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The state has long voiced its opposition to the project and has five lawsuits pending against the federal government.

The poll, conducted Oct. 4-22 by Northwest Survey and Data Services, randomly surveyed 401 Nevadans by telephone. It had an error margin of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

It found 66 percent of respondents support filing lawsuits to block the plan, and 65 percent think the state should continue its opposition even if it means turning down benefits offered by the federal government in exchange for the project.

"These results should put to rest any notion that Nevadans are prepared to give up the fight and meekly accept a project that is both unsafe and unnecessary," said Robert Loux, executive director of the Gov.'s Agency for Nuclear Projects, the state agency charged with opposing the waste dump.

Officials with the Energy Department, which hopes to open the site by 2010, stressed Yucca Mountain is an issue of national concern.

"Yucca Mountain is a national issue, and a majority of the House and the Senate overwhelming supported moving forward with Yucca Mountain in the interest of national security and energy security," said Joe Davis, an Energy Department spokesman in Washington, D.C. "We are looking at this from a national perspective, and we need to move forward."

Davis said the Energy Department has spent 25 years studying the project and determined Yucca Mountain is a suitable site.

"We would not move forward if we didn't think it was safe," he said.

The survey also found 58 percent of respondents said the project would have a negative effect on the state's economy.

"When you look at these survey findings and compare them with past survey results, the people of Nevada are sending a clear and consistent message to DOE and the commercial nuclear power industry," Loux said from Carson City. "They are saying unequivocally, `We don't want this facility and we will not be fooled by enticements to cut deals.'"

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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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