Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Report says repository to bite county budget

Commissioners hear of Yucca Mountain's public safety costs

The transportation of high-level nuclear waste to the planned Yucca Mountain repository could have a devastating effect on local government finances, according to a report accepted by Clark County commissioners Tuesday.

Environmental experts estimated that public agencies will have to spend $385 million at the start of the shipments. The cost over the 24-year period of nuclear waste shipments could total $3.7 billion.

The transportation effort was set to start in 2010, but the Department of Energy's current estimate is late 2012 at the earliest.

Public safety responsibilities when the repository opens are projected to cost about $291 million. Over the 24-year-period, the nuclear waste storage area is expected to cost the county $2.5 billion.

The Department of Energy is expected to pay for the effects of transporting and storing radioactive material in Southern Nevada, but officials expressed concerns whether local governments will be compensated fully.

"In the narrowest terms, these are the costs we're talking about that DOE should be held responsible for," said Sheila Conway, principal of the county's consulting firm, Urban Environmental Research, LLC.

The amount the county is reimbursed by the Energy Department, she said, is expected to be "far less than this magnitude."

Allen Benson, spokesman for the Office of Repository Development, said the department will "provide technical assistance and training through the corridor which we will be shipping nuclear waste." He said the definition of technical aid has "yet to be determined."

Conway, a former Energy Department consultant, said estimates for preparing for shipments swelled by $20 million since 2001. The increase is because of changes in communication needs after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the need for a regional training facility and emergency operations center.

Also, local governments have gained a better understanding of the shipment routes, both by train and truck.

"In the current projections, the public safety agencies have reduced some costs by eliminating some equipment and personnel needs they originally thought important, while they have identified other resource needs they originally overlooked," the report said.

Tuesday was the first time that the cost of public safety operations related to the Yucca Mountain storage site were revealed.

"That's a staggering amount of money," said Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams, who has been an opponent of the planned nuclear waste shipments.

Clark County's $2.5 billion cost projection includes providing public safety through its police, fire and emergency management division. In Las Vegas, that cost is projected to be $1.1 billion.

Conway said frequent updates on costs are important to pass along to Nevada's representatives in Washington, D.C., who will be in discussions with the Department of Energy.

"It's important to have the data; it's important as we go forward to monitor the mode of transportation and monitor the way we'll be impacted, so we have the type of information we need," Conway said.

Williams expressed doubt on whether the Department of Energy will follow through on its obligation to pay for the costs. She said the agency has been less than honest in the past.

"We need to understand and define the costs because, otherwise, it's going to fall on the Clark County taxpayers," Williams said. "That's so unfair; the people who don't want it."