Nevada officials accuse Bush of breaking promise in approving nuclear waste dump

Saturday, February 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush pointed to national security and the need to support the nuclear industry as major reasons to push ahead with a nuclear waste dump in Nevada _ one he said he is convinced is scientifically sound and should be built.

The decision prompted an immediate outcry in Nevada where Democrats accused Bush of breaking a campaign promise not to saddle them with 77,000 tons of nuclear waste that will remain dangerous for 10,000 or more years.

The Republican governor filed suit challenging the approval process.

Even former Vice President Al Gore weighed in after Bush announced he would go ahead and build the underground waste dump 90 miles from Las Vegas, calling Bush's decision on Yucca ``a flat out broken promise'' from the 2000 campaign.

For Republicans in Nevada _ where virtually everyone agrees the dump ought to be somewhere else _ the situation became especially precarious as they sought to distance themselves from the decision, but not alienate the GOP president.

``I'm very disappointed, although not surprised,'' said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., holding back his criticism of Bush, but aiming instead at the Energy Department which he said ``has been hell bent on shoving waste into our backyard, regardless of what science and common sense shows.''

Nevada GOP Gov. Kenny Guinn said he was outraged. Within hours, Nevada filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the way the decision was made, claiming the procedures that were used violated a 1982 law. The suit had been expected.

In matters of nuclear waste, science and politics have often vied for top billing. It is almost certain to be the case as the debate over the proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository now moves to Congress, which will decide whether to uphold the president or side with Nevada.

It could all be decided this fall _ just before election time.

Bush, in a letter to congressional leaders Friday, said he approved the go-ahead for the Yucca Mountain project because a central repository for the more than 77,000 tons of waste building up at power plants and defense sites ``is necessary to protect public safety, health and this nation's security.''

The president, following the advice of his energy secretary, said his decision ``is the culmination of two decades of intense scientific scrutiny'' and that he is certain the science is sound.

Nevada has argued that there are still many outstanding scientific issues not yet fully resolved when it comes to whether Yucca Mountain's geology will adequately contain the waste thousands of years from now.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., reminded that Bush, when campaigning in Nevada in 2000, had vowed not to approve any waste site ``unless it's been deemed scientifically safe'' and that ``sound science not politics, must prevail'' in selecting any waste site.

``Today, President Bush broke this promise,'' insisted Reid.

Administration officials called the charges nonsense.

``It is my strong belief the science supports the safe use of this repository,'' said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. He said the Yucca site's volcanic rocks, its geological history and water flow has been studied for two decades at a cost of more than $4 billion.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the president's decision ``is based on sound science. It follows decades of scientific study.''

But Friday's decision is far from the last word.

When Congress in 1987 directed that only the Yucca Mountain site be studied as a potential burial ground for the nation's highly radioactive waste, it also said Nevada could veto the president's decision. And Nevada officials have made clear they will do so.

Then it will be up to Congress to side with the White House or with Nevada. One rub, concede some lawmakers privately, is that to side with Nevada means another place has to be found.

Some battle lines already have begun to emerge.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., whose state has 11 commercial power reactors and who would like to see their waste moved elsewhere, called Yucca Mountain ``safe, secure and viable'' and said it should be built ``without further delay.''

On the other hand, House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, called Bush's actions premature and promised to work with other Democratic leaders to try to overturn the president's decision.

One of Gephardt's big worries is over the thousands of shipments of nuclear waste that will have to crisscross the country since most of the nuclear reactors are east of the Mississippi River. Many of those shipments will go through Gephardt's home state.

The wastes can be shipped safely, assured Abraham, arguing that communities face a greater risk if the wastes remain where they are. ``More than 161 million people live within 75 miles of one or more of these sites,'' he said.

Administration officials are likely to drive that point home when pressing their case on Capitol Hill. Many members of Congress many find it hard to support Nevada when waste is building up their states.