Nevada Site Picked for Nuclear Waste

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Thursday selected Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the final resting place for tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste.

The announcement opens a critical new stage in a 40-year search for a safe storage place for the vast quantities of highly radioactive material now at nuclear power plants and other facilities in 39 states.

Citing a new rationale for supporting the federal government’s long-held preference for one national nuclear dump, Abraham told Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn in a letter, “We should consolidate the nuclear wastes to enhance protection against terrorist attacks.”

But Abraham does not have the final word on the fate of the wind-swept desert mountain, and his official choice only energized the vehement opposition to the project in Nevada and among environmentalists.

The question of how to put all of the nation’s radioactive waste in one central storage facility has vexed government officials because of the risks posed by transporting the spent fuel and long-term storage. Keeping it where it is, however, also poses risks. The wastes contain radioactive elements that remain active, and potentially life-threatening, for hundreds of thousands of years.

Under law, President Bush must decide whether to approve Abraham’s recommendation. He has signaled his strong support for consolidating nuclear waste in one depository, and since 1987 Yucca Mountain has been the only site under active consideration in the United States. The government has spent $6 billion studying the site.

If Nevada state officials formally oppose the president’s decision, as expected, Congress will have 90 legislative days to vote on the matter. If a simple majority in both chambers votes for the project, as is anticipated, it would go forward to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licensing. That process could take several years and the project still could be rejected.

Thursday’s announcement was seen by supporters of the Yucca site as a symbolic groundbreaking for the facility, but opponents viewed it as the first shot in a final, fierce battle to keep nuclear waste out of the mountain.

On Thursday, both sides used the threat of terrorist attacks to support their case. While Abraham said that keeping the waste on-site at nuclear power plants posed a risk of terrorist attacks, environmentalists argued that transporting it to Yucca Mountain on thousands of trucks and train cars would increase that risk.

Abraham stressed that the Yucca Mountain site is “technically suitable” and “the science behind this project is sound.”

He said the site will support nuclear nonproliferation aims by providing a secure place to put nuclear waste from decommissioned weapons; play a key role in protecting the nation’s energy security by ensuring a safe future for nuclear energy, which accounts for 20% of the nation’s energy needs; and help the environment by providing a storage site for nuclear material from cleanups of defense waste sites.

Guinn said Abraham broke the news to him in a morning phone call. He said he used an expletive to convey the depth of his disappointment to Abraham and added that the secretary could expect him to veto the project, which would send it to Congress.

“I explained to him we will fight it in Congress, in the Oval Office, in every regulatory body we can--we’ll take all of our arguments to the courts,” Guinn said. “This fight is far from over.”

The state of Nevada already has sued to block the development of Yucca Mountain on environmental grounds and has threatened more lawsuits.

“At the conclusion of the call I told the secretary that I think this decision stinks, the whole process stinks and we’ll see him in court,” Guinn said.

Working in Nevada’s favor is the fact that one of its senators, Harry Reid, is now the majority whip, which could help win the votes of other Democrats. Reid said Thursday that if the decision comes down to Congress, he will use all his power to block development of a repository in Yucca Mountain.

He is counting on the support of senators from both parties whose constituents are unsettled by the thought of tons of nuclear wastes being transported through their regions.

“The nuclear waste is not going to suddenly appear at Yucca Mountain one night,” Reid said. “Thousands of trucks and trains are going to carry it through the country. People don’t like the idea of it, and since Sept. 11, they like it even less.”

Officials in San Bernardino County, which shares a border with Nevada and through which nuclear waste will travel, shared similar concerns Thursday.

“The county believes the U.S. Department of Energy has not adequately addressed the risk posed to communities along the nuclear waste route,” spokesman David Wert said.

However, Reid conceded that it will be difficult to get 51 senators to vote against the site.

And the House would likely approve the Yucca Mountain site.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over nuclear energy policy, said developing a repository at Yucca Mountain is an “integral” step in ensuring the future of nuclear power as a key part of the nation’s energy supply.

Critics of the administration’s decision pointed to a Government Accounting Office report released late last month that said it was “premature” by several years to recommend the site because of the many unresolved technical and scientific issues on the project.

The report by the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress said hundreds of scientific tests and experiments must still be conducted to determine if nuclear waste can be safely stored in containers below Yucca Mountain for more than 10,000 years. The GAO said it didn’t believe the site would be operational before 2015.

“Before anyone starts shipping hundreds of tons of radioactive waste across America’s highways and railways, the government needs to make sure it is taking the safest, wisest course,” Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).

But the nuclear industry praised Abraham’s announcement, stressing that the federal government has been legally obligated to start receiving spent nuclear fuel from power plants since 1998.

“Nearly two decades of exhaustive analysis support this action,” said Joe Colvin, president and chief executive of the Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents the commercial nuclear energy industry.

The Energy Department has hoped to open the facility in 2010. Plans call for it to store 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel.