Gov. Kenny Guinn complained Thursday to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham that the Energy Department is "the only entity familiar with the facts at Yucca Mountain that doesn't see your decision as premature."
Abraham decided to recommend Yucca Mountain 75 miles north of Las Vegas as the nation's high level nuclear waste dump after a visit there earlier this month.
Guinn made the comments in a letter to Abraham protesting the decision. He pointed out that DOE's contractor Bechtel/SAIC, the General Accounting Office, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste and Yucca Mountain, Yucca Mountain Technical Review Board, National Academy of Sciences and International Atomic Energy Agency have all called for more studies before seriously considering whether to recommend the site for permanent storage of nuclear waste.
He said the regulatory commission, for example, has recommended 292 additional major studies in key areas from corrosion of the waste containers to groundwater flow through the mountain and potential volcanic activity.
He accused the Energy Department of ignoring the "blatant unsuitability of the geology at Yucca Mountain" to store radioactive waste.
Guinn said he was especially disappointed that Abraham framed the decision as, in part, a security issue in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
"This new rationale for rushing forward with Yucca Mountain was invented by DOE and the nuclear industry in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks," Guinn said adding that issue has never been studied.
"Though you've clearly made up your mind, I remain hopeful that President Bush, when he receives your recommendation, will keep his promise to me and Nevada not to push the Yucca Mountain project forward against the imperatives of sound science," the letter concludes.
