Rocket Fuel Output Tied to Nevada Disaster Aid

If the federal government wants to resume production of rocket fuel critical to America’s space program, it must grant Nevada’s request for disaster relief, Gov. Richard Bryan said Wednesday.

“The level of cooperation they receive is directly correlative to the amount of support we receive,” Bryan told reporters after a White House meeting with officials from the Pentagon, the National Security Council and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The strategic standoff developed last week when the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that it would not authorize aid for Henderson, Nev., where a rocket fuel plant exploded May 4, killing two people and injuring more than 350 others.

The emergency agency estimated damage in the Las Vegas valley at $3 million, but recommended against disaster relief on the grounds that much of the damage would be covered by insurance.

After his White House session, Bryan told United Press International that the ranking officials who met with him at the White House for more than an hour were “very positive” about his suggestions.

“Their attitude was that these are fair and reasonable requests,” the governor said, which in addition to the disaster relief included proposals to significantly reduce inventories of ammonium perchlorate, establish intermediate storage facilities outside urban areas, and pay attention to local fire regulations on separation distances for the fuel component.

For their part, however, Administration officials said the case would be reviewed, but that “no promises had been made” to the governor.

The Pacific Engineering & Production Co., where the explosion occurred last month, and the nearby Kerr-McGee plant are the nation’s only sources of the rocket fuel. The Kerr-McGee plant temporarily halted production after the explosion but resumed this week. The federal government has said it is prepared to subsidize reconstruction of the Pacific Engineering plant at an unspecified site.