Yucca isn’t dead yet

Yucca Mountain? Isn't that project dead?

Actually, no. In fact, the controversial nuclear waste repository is back in the news these days, even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama have joined forces to destroy it.

But that didn't stop Nye County officials from writing a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu indicating that the county still supports Yucca and is willing to accept nuclear waste.

"The first recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear future calls for a new, consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities," the March 6 letter reads. "Nye County, Nevada, hereby provides notice to you, the secretary of energy, that we consent to host the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain ... ."

For Nye County -- and for many other Nevadans -- the jobs and economic boost that Yucca Mountain could provide outweigh the transportation and storage risks that come with a facility such as Yucca. But that's the minority view, as Gov. Brian Sandoval reminded the feds in a letter of his own this week.

"There should be no uncertainty or misunderstanding of my position with regard to an interim spent fuel storage site or repository site in Nevada," Sandoval wrote. "The state of Nevada does not support the location of any such site within the state and will oppose any attempt to either resurrect the defunct Yucca Mountain project or locate an interim storage facility at Yucca or elsewhere in Nevada."

And, the kicker: "While I am cognizant of the letter sent to you last week from Nye County expressing support for a Yucca Mountain repository, Nye County does not and cannot speak for the state of Nevada."

And while that last part is certainly true, something else Sandoval wrote isn't quite so accurate. And that's this: Yucca Mountain isn't exactly "defunct."

It's defunded, dormant and on life-support, but it's not defunct. That's because Reid and Obama can no more speak for Congress than the Nye County Commission can speak for the state of Nevada. And the last time anybody checked, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is still the law of the land.

That law --for those blissfully unaware of this long-running political and scientific saga -- established that nuclear waste was to be disposed of by burial. A 1987 follow-up law that later became known as the Screw Nevada bill designated Yucca Mountain as that burial site. And the rest is histrionics.

Since that time, Nevada's congressional delegation has successfully fought Yucca Mountain against presidents sympathetic to Nevada's cause (Clinton, Obama) and those not-so-sympathetic (Reagan, George W. Bush). Reams of scientific arguments on both sides have been created and debated. Lawsuits have raged. But never in that time has Congress repealed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act or the Screw Nevada bill.

Instead of the long and politically difficult process of repeal (more than 30 states -- some with influential congressional delegations -- have nuclear reactors, where waste is piling up) the Obama administration simply decided to defund the project and move in a different direction. Part of that was the creation of the Blue Ribbon Commission that decided nuclear waste should be sent where people don't mind having a repository nearby.

That does not, apparently, include Nevada, even though some of Nevada's own delegation have suggested using the site, if not for storage of spent fuel, then at least for research on waste. That would create jobs, and fairly high-paying, high-tech ones, too.

Congressional candidate Danny Tarkanian, whose district if he's elected would include the Yucca facility, told Mesquite Citizen Journal publisher Barbara Ellestad that he was in favor of "states' rights" with respect to Yucca.

"If the people of Nevada want to have Yucca Mountain, whether it's for a repository or a reprocessing facility or some other purpose, they should be allowed to do so," he said.

Ironically, states' rights has been a primary argument against the repository. And the question remains: Who gets to decide if Nevada wants Yucca? The governor and the Legislature, or the residents of the county where the dump would be built?

Because no matter what anybody tells you, Yucca Mountain isn't dead yet.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.