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Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Tribe may have say in Yucca project planning

Having learned a lesson from nuclear weapons testing, the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe today becomes the second tribe to ask Interior Secretary Gale Norton to designate that it is affected by the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

A designation as an affected American Indian tribe would give it full participation in the Yucca Mountain Project planning process, allowing the possibility for oversight money appropriated by Congress.

"Department of Energy programs lack an understanding of tribal culture and are not always sensitive or appropriate when applied to tribal society," according to a statement released by Duckwater Shoshone officials.

"This we have learned from our own tragic experience as down-wind victims from 928 U.S. weapons tested near Yucca Mountain at the Nevada Test Site," the statement read.

Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site the Department of Energy is studying to entomb the nation's highly radioactive waste.

Currently there are no tribes with affected status involving the Yucca Mountain Project. The Timbisha Shoshone council of Death Valley, Calif., 50 miles west of Yucca Mountain, applied for designation as an affected tribe in April, citing concerns about health and safety.

Similarly, Duckwater Shoshones say they "may be substantially and adversely affected by the siting of a repository at Yucca Mountain."

"The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe intends to participate in the oversight of Department of Energy site characterization activities at Yucca Mountain, to participate in licensing for construction authorization, and to participate in licensing of actual repository operations as contemplated by Congress," the tribe's statement read.