Abraham Approves Yucca Mountain

The ongoing battle over the creation of a nuclear waste repository in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain moved into a new phase in January when Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham notified Nevada officials that he was recommending development of the site to President Bush. In both a phone call and a letter to Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, Abraham cited national security and energy security as reasons for his decision. The Republican governor, a long-time opponent of the project, said tersely, “This decision stinks.”

The federal government has spent 14 years and $4.5 billion studying the feasibility of burying some 77 000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste from power plants and the nuclear weapons program in the mountain. But determining if the waste might contaminate the environment, particularly groundwater, over a period stretching out 10 000 years or more has proven very difficult.

If President Bush approves the project, Guinn has the legal right to veto it, which he is expected to do. The issue would then go to Congress, where the Nevada congressional delegation, including Democratic Senator Harry Reid, the deputy majority leader, has worked hard to stop the project.

If the House and Senate override Guinn’s veto, the first waste could be delivered to the mountain in about 2010.