State the Issues - April 2002

State the Issues

by Richard Bryan & Robert List

Issue: What approach should Nevada take regarding the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain?

WHY NEVADA CANNOT NEGOTIATE

By: Richard Bryan

When the commercial nuclear power industry suggests it is in Nevada’s interests to negotiate for benefits in exchange for accepting Yucca Mountain, two questions must be answered: "What is there to negotiate?" and "What’s in it for the industry?"

The answer to the first question is simple: There is nothing to negotiate. No amount of compensation will change the fact that Yucca Mountain is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. The costs and risks to Nevada far exceed any benefits of the project. Yucca Mountain could have devastating public health and safety consequences, the costs of which are incalculable. Even if negotiations were possible, there is no way to guarantee DOE and future Congresses will live up to any agreements that are made. New Mexico’s experience with a repository for less dangerous transuranic waste, is a case in point. New Mexico agreed to host the repository in exchange for DOE's promise of major highway infrastructure improvements. The commitment by DOE was never honored.

If the project is inevitable, why is the nuclear power industry spending millions in Nevada to entice us to negotiate? The answer is obvious. The industry realizes Yucca Mountain can only be built if Nevada ceases its opposition. Once the state indicates even a willingness to talk benefits, the battle is over and the state will have capitulated. That is the real goal of the industry’s campaign.

Nevada is today extremely well positioned to defeat Yucca Mountain outright. Recent comments by the General Accounting Office and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Committee raise major scientific concerns about the suitability of Yucca Mountain. The only thing that can save this failed and dangerous project is for Nevada to give up the fight. That is something Nevada’s leaders cannot and will not do. The health and safety of Nevadans are not for sale, at any price.

TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE

By: Robert List

The moment of truth for the Yucca Mountain project is nearly upon us. For a state accustomed to playing the odds, the time has come to recognize we may well be on the wrong side of the table in this high-stakes encounter. We owe it to ourselves to face the harsh realities and to prepare Plan B - a contingent alternative.

This would be the largest public works project in the history of the planet, with most of the $60 billion being spent in Nevada. It is a staggering sum – enough money to re-build the entire Las Vegas Strip. What are some of the positive economic impacts?

The current 1,300 jobs in the state directly related to the project pay average annual salaries of $65,000 – twice the state average – and drive a payroll of $100 million. Thousands more such positions will follow.

Hundreds of millions of dollars to Nevada businesses for goods and services

Millions of dollars in annual payments to local governments and school districts based upon the value of the installations built.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in impact grants for government agencies at every level.

Transportation grants for our crowded roads and highways, including I-15

Both university and private sector opportunities in science and engineering to help diversify the economy.

Direct grants for our schools.

Transfer of titles to public lands throughout Nevada for community development.

Income tax credits or direct cash payments to individual citizens (such as is done in Alaska as a result of the pipeline).

Substantial royalties to Nevada when spent fuel is retrieved for reprocessing and reuse in the future.

These suggestions, and others, should form the basis for discussions and negotiations. Reality demands we seize and manage this historic opportunity. Let’s think of it as Plan B – turning lemons into lemonade.

Richard Bryan & Robert List
Richard Bryan served as governor of Nevada from 1983 to 1988 and U.S. senator from Nevada (1988-2001). He is an attorney at Lionel Sawyer and Collins. Robert List, governor of Nevada from 1979 to 1983, is CEO of the Robert List Company, a Las Vegas corporate consulting firm specializing in public policy regulatory matters.