Nev., Wash., Tex. Picked for A-Dumps

President Reagan selected sites in Nevada, Texas and Washington state today as potential locations for the nation’s first high-level nuclear waste dump, prompting the government to stop looking for a second dump.

“We have reached an important milestone and taken a significant step forward,” said Energy Secretary John S. Herrington. “It is a clear sign that this nation will have a capacity for safely storing and disposing of high-level nuclear wastes well into the 21st Century.”

The dump, which will hold as much as 70,000 metric tons of radioactive garbage from nuclear power facilities across the country, is expected to be large enough to handle all waste generated “for the foreseeable future,” the Energy Department said.

The final site will be selected in 1994, and the dump is scheduled to be operational in 1998.

In a separate statement, the Energy Department said it has postponed studies of specific sites for a second dump “because of the progress in siting the first repository and uncertainty of when a second repository might be needed.”

20 Areas Off the List

The 20 areas singled out as possible locations for the second dump are no longer under consideration, the department said, and if it is decided that a second location is needed the search will start from scratch.

The White House announced that Reagan accepted Herrington’s recommendation, based on environmental studies, that the three possible sites for the first dump should be Yucca Mountain, Nev.; Deaf Smith County, Tex., and Hanford, Wash.

Eliminated from consideration were Davis Canyon, Utah, and Richton Dome, Miss.

A White House official, who asked not to be identified, said, “The President made the decision over the objections of the congressional delegations of all three states but felt it was important the process go forward.”

Among the vocal opponents was Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.), a friend of the President and general chairman of the Republican Party.

Congressman Relieved

The official said the Administration “pointed out to them that they have until 1994 before any selection is made and they can still make their objections known.”

Rep. James T. Broyhill (R-N.C.) was relieved that the search for the second dump had been put off. His state was one of seven being considered.

“I am pleased that I was able to help bury the second repository program,” he said.

The department’s initial proposal had suggested 20 locations for the second nuclear waste dump. Besides two North Carolina locations, the Energy Department also had suggested sites in Minnesota, Maine, Virginia, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Georgia.

Local opposition to the department’s plan was swift and vocal, and lawmakers from all the selected states insisted that the government would need only one site and vowed to halt work to choose a second.