Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

GOP backs nuclear repository

Plank divides Nevada Republican delegation

CORRECTIONS -- 9/1/04
Shirley Blair, the sister of Gov. Kenny Guinn and a delegate to the Republican National Convention, was misidentified in a Tuesday story on the GOP supporting the Yucca Mountain Project.

NEW YORK -- Though it doesn't mention the Yucca Mountain Project by name, the platform approved Monday by the Republican Party probably won't help the GOP much in Nevada.

In a plank pledging support for nuclear energy's role in alleviating dependence on foreign oil, the platform hits upon the key issue of burying the nation's high level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"President Bush supports construction of new nuclear power plants through the Nuclear Power 2010 initiative and continues to move forward on creating an environmentally sound nuclear waste repository," the platform states.

The platform was approved by a voice vote early Monday afternoon without delegates even seeing the document.

The energy plank also pledges support for renewable sources such as solar and wind power.

Environmental groups lashed out at the overall energy planks, but some Nevada delegates were particularly pleased with the language referring to the repository, which was approved by Bush in 2002.

"We've gotten denied a lot benefits," said Paul Willis of Pahrump, a staunch repository supporter. "In my 50 years as a resident of Nevada, I've never seen the federal government denied anything.

"The real losers will be the state of Nevada and Nye County for not negotiating for benefits," said Willis, who wore a pin that identified him as "Paul Willis -- Chairman Nye County -- Home of Yucca Mountain."

Willis said the pin was to remind the rest of the Nevada delegation how a majority of the members feel about Yucca.

About a dozen of the 33 delegates support Yucca Mountain and think the state should negotiate for benefits, according to a survey of delegates by the Associated Press.

A Reno Gazette-Journal, KRNV-Channel 4 poll of statewide voters this month found that 53 percent consider Yucca Mountain an important factor in deciding which presidential candidate they will back. Among Democrats, 67 percent said Yucca Mountain is important, compared with 38 percent of Republicans.

But the delegation includes Republican statewide officials that have fought hard against the repository. Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who sued the Bush administration, is a delegate along with Rep. Jim Gibbons, who voted against the repository in Congress.

Gov. Kenny Guinn's wife, Dema, and his sister, Shirley Barber, are also delegates. Guinn vetoed Bush's designation of Yucca Mountain in 2002, triggering a congressional vote on the issue.

The divide within the Republican Party on the repository has already opened the door to criticism by the Democrats.

Kerry Nevada spokesman Sean Smith scoffed at the language about an "environmentally-sound nuclear waste repository."

"If they found one of those, I'd like to know where it is," Smith said.

He also said the platform can play a role in Nevada's presidential election because "it's consistent with Bush's record for the past four years and it reinforces the notion that he's pushed forward on this."

The national Democratic platform, approved by delegates in Boston last month, includes a plank opposing efforts to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain that are not based on sound science.

Presidential nominee John Kerry pledged to kill the project if elected, and in a television commercial running now in Reno and Las Vegas, he tells voters: "It's wrong. It's dangerous and I won't let it happen."

During a trip to Las Vegas two weeks ago, Bush said his decision was based on science and that he would stand by any ruling by a court or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"This is something you've heard the president address himself," said White House spokesman Ken Lisiaus. "And Spencer Abraham has also addressed it. He (Bush) is strongly committed to making sure this moves forward on sound scientific principals and that the people of Nevada are safe."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.