The State - News from Sept. 21, 1987

A ban on nuclear testing would have an effect on Nevada Test Site operations but it is too early to tell how serious it would be, an Energy Department spokesman said. “It could range from A to Z. There’s no way to predict it,” spokesman Chris West said. The State Department announced last week that it will begin negotiations later this year with the Soviet Union on the verification of underground tests with an eventual goal of achieving a ban on all nuclear tests. West acknowledged that a halt in testing would eliminate many of the 8,300 jobs at the test site, but said other programs at the site could pick up some of the slack. “There are other programs at the test site,” he said. “Though it would take a major program of some sort to continue having a Nevada Test Site. A lot of the smaller ones may not stand by themselves. Something like the nuclear waste repository could take the place.”