Yucca Mountain spokesman to dish and retire

Allen Benson, who has held one of the toughest jobs in Las Vegas as the chief spokesman of the Yucca Mountain Project, confirmed he is retiring at the end of July.

Before he goes, Benson will be speaking tomorrow at lunch to the Las Vegas chapter of the Public Relations Society of America at the Bali Hai Golf Club. Be warned there is a charge.

Benson's topic? "Communicating Your Company's Message When Everyone Hates You."

According to the teaser on the society's website: "How would you communicate your client or company's messages when the governing political power structure opposes everything you do, challenges your credibility and doesn't care about the money, jobs or technology the program is bringing to the community? One man has been through the fire ... or mountain in his case ... and come out on the other side."

Sen. Harry Reid and other Nevada political leaders who have opposed the nuclear waste repository program might differ with that characterization, but they are at present having the last word as the program is being shut down by the Obama administration.

Benson. 63, joined the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management within the Department of Energy in 1984, and has been the Yucca program's public face since 1996. The director of communications and outreach is retiring amidst the exodus of employees during the shutdown.

People waiting for Benson to tell the juiciest stories about flacking for Yucca Mountain might have to wait.  He is still a federal employee for another month.

"I am going to be talking about what I learned," Benson said. "I am not going to be criticizing anybody or anything. I am going to be talking about how I communicated and what I learned in a pretty tough environment. I have no complaints."