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Nuclear Waste: Nevada Asks Bush to Back Away From Yucca Mountain Top Nevada elected officials yesterday met with U.S. President George W. Bush in an effort to persuade him not to approve Yucca Mountain as the site for a permanent nuclear waste repository (see GSN, Feb. 6). “I could not read [Bush] one way or another,” said Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn after the meeting. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to formally recommend the Yucca Mountain site to Bush as early as tomorrow, according to the Las-Vegas Review Journal (see GSN, Jan. 11). Bush, in turn, might agree to the site as soon as the beginning of next week, the Review-Journal reported. Guinn said he might have been able to place some doubts in Bush’s mind about the suitability of Yucca Mountain and might have been able to delay any approval of the plan. “I didn’t get the impression he was going to make his decision tomorrow or Saturday or Sunday or Monday,” Guinn said. “Knowing him on a personal basis and knowing how he makes his decisions, we’re going to have some consideration out of this meeting today. I just felt that.” Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.), also present at yesterday’s meeting, said he too felt that Bush was unsure about the Yucca Mountain plan. “I don’t think the people under him have any doubts in their mind, but I think the president has doubts in his mind,” Ensign said. “He was getting one side, and all of a sudden today he hears another side. And he seemed genuinely interested, and he was going to take his time and go through the issues and make sure he was making the best decision he felt.” If Bush formally approves the Yucca Mountain plan, Guinn would have 60 days to register a veto, according to the Review-Journal. Then, any decision on Yucca Mountain would go to Congress, where a simple majority in both houses would be needed to override Guinn’s veto. Not In/Through My Backyard Other Nevada officials yesterday also continued their battle against the Yucca Mountain plan, the Review-Journal reported. Nevada Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt distributed maps of possible nuclear waste transport routes to Yucca Mountain at a conference of lieutenant governors in Washington (see GSN, Feb. 4). Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman also distributed route maps at a mayor’s conference last month, according to the Review-Journal. “We can sit and argue all day, with our measly small [congressional] delegation, but we don’t have the votes, and if we can educate other states we may create a [not in my backyard] mentality,” Hunt said (Steve Tetreault, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Feb. 8). Missouri state officials are also concerned about potential waste shipments through their state en route to Yucca Mountain, according to the Associated Press. “We feel it is extremely likely that if Yucca Mountain is up and operating that it will entail use of [Interstate Route 70] for many of these cross-country shipments,” said Dru Buntin of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. “The folks that live along these particular routes ought to be aware and ought to have some input in the decision.” The U.S. Energy Department has not yet told Missouri officials how many waste shipments would pass through St. Louis on I-70, the AP reported. “They haven’t told us how many shipments it’s going to be, and I don’t think that’s by accident,” Buntin said. An Energy Department spokesman said it was too soon to talk about any potential waste shipments to Yucca Mountain. “We can do this safely,” said Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis. “In fact, we would only transport it if we can do it safely, and we believe we can” (Associated Press, Feb. 8).
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