Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn Sunday said the best chance for defeating the decision to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain resides in the court system, rather than Congress (see GSN, Feb. 22).

Guinn said that “within the next 45 days” he would probably veto President George W. Bush’s decision to build a waste repository.  Once Guinn vetoes the plan, the issue will go to Congress, where it would take a simple majority vote of both houses to overturn the veto.

There is little chance that the House of Representatives would sustain the veto, Guinn said.

“There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

Guinn said Nevada’s chances are better in the Senate, but added that he also is not counting on victory there.

If Congress overturns the veto, the next step would be to take the fight into the courts, according to Guinn.

“For the first time in Nevada, we have now about $6 million, going higher every day, for this litigation that could take us through the next legislative session,” he said.  “I could get us more money.”

Attorneys for Nevada have already filed three lawsuits against the Yucca Mountain plan, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  The suits allege Bush’s decision to approve Yucca Mountain as a repository site for nuclear waste was not based on sound science.

“We’re going to fight this issue in the court because we think we can prove the lack of sound science,” Guinn said.

The fight against the Yucca Mountain plan is a five-step process, Guinn said.

“The Department of Energy was one step.  That’s over with,” he said. “(Energy Secretary) Spencer Abraham was a second step.  That’s over with.  Then the president was a third step, and that’s evidently over with now.  And then Congress is a fourth step, and that’s yet to be over with.  And court is the fifth step” (Tony Batt, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Feb. 25).

Reid to Join GAO Suit

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Sunday said he plans to join a lawsuit launched by the General Accounting Office against Vice President Dick Cheney to obtain information on who participated in discussions related to the crafting of the Bush administration’s energy policy.

“There seems to be no question that Cheney met with a number of people from the nuclear industry … we believe eight or nine people,” Reid said, adding that he wants to know “when, who they are and what they talked about.”

“I think we’re entitled to know that, especially based on the fact that the president changed what he said during the campaign in Nevada on nuclear waste,” Reid said.  “He said, ‘I won’t allow it unless it’s based on good science.’  He just flip-flopped on that and that’s unfortunate” (Jon Ralston, Reno Gazette-Journal, Feb. 24).

Utah Opposes Yucca Mountain Plan

Meanwhile, the Utah Senate Health and Environment Committee endorsed a resolution opposing the Yucca Mountain plan, the Associated Press reported today.  The committee voted 3-1 in favor of a resolution urging Congress to reject the plan.

“This would send a message that this is not acceptable,” said Utah state Senator Gene Davis, who sponsored the resolution (Associated Press, Feb. 26).

Governor Should Not Have Veto, Columnist Says

Guinn should not have a legal veto over the Yucca Mountain plan, said Bruce Fein, general counsel for the Center of Law and Accountability, in a column in the Washington Times today.

The U.S. Constitution “speaks the language of ‘We the people,’” Fein said.  “It prohibits Congress from endowing Mr. Guinn, whose political accountability and vision are intrinsically local, to trump President Bush’s Yucca nuclear waste site selection, a matter of serious national urgency.”

The risks posed to Nevada residents by Yucca Mountain are small compared to those faced by U.S. soldiers oversees fighting in the war on terrorism, Fein said.  “Shouldn’t we all ungrudgingly accept sacrifices on behalf of major national enterprises as welcome opportunities for our finest hours” (Bruce Fein, Washington Times, Feb. 26).

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