opinion

Majority of Nevadans want to consider nuclear waste repository: Schinhofen

Thank you to the Reno Gazette Journal for the thoughtful poll on the issue of Yucca Mountain ("Should Nevada continue to fight Yucca nuclear waste repository?", Feb. 20). While many of the state's elected officials and its representatives in Washington, D.C. insist Nevadans don't want the project, your poll tells a different story. A story closer to what we in Nye County, where the project is located, hear: Many Nevadans are open to a discussion about the nuclear repository and the economic benefits it would bring to Nevada.

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According to your poll, 29.3 percent of respondents believe the project, along with reprocessing, would be great for the Nevada economy, 17.7 percent responded that Yucca Mountain should be considered if there is a better deal for Nevada, and 6.4 percent say Nevada should do it for national security reasons. That is 53.4 percent having an interest in discussions about the Yucca Mountain project moving forward.

That's compared to the 43.4 percent who responded that the state should continue to fight the project.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is quoted underneath the poll as stating, "The people of Nevada have spoken, and they've spoken loud and clear — Nevada will not be home to a nuclear waste dump."

That statement is apparently not true. And it's not just your poll. In 2015, another poll conducted by Political Marketing International Inc. in Southern Nevada found 55 percent believed "that Nevadans should be open to having a discussion about Yucca."

Instead of the state continuing to spend taxpayer money to fight the project, such as the $5.1 million recently approved to hire an out-of-state law firm, the state should engage in the licensing process to receive a better deal overall for Nevada.

Despite your own poll numbers, the Gazette Journal Editorial Board on Thursday, March 1, encouraged the state to "keep up the fight against nuclear waste." The reason for the board's stance is, "because once again, Nevada is being kept on the sidelines of the discussion."

The lack of negotiation is entirely the fault of the State of Nevada. Then-State Attorney General Brian McKay said over 30 years ago that negotiation would be implied consent and the state politicians have used that as the excuse ever since.

Nye County has consistently held that we cannot make a final decision until the licensing process is complete and the safety questions have been answered. Then if the project can be done safely, we owe it to the citizens of Nevada to have a discussion about mitigation and benefits before the final decision is made.

Most recently U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Illinois) tried to address many of Nevada’s concerns in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017. This bill has passed out the committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. We have not heard the last of this bill and it provides for benefits and a negotiation process. It even specifically addresses one of the biggest issues in the state by avoiding the Las Vegas valley with all transportation routes.

It is time to stop the unfounded fearmongering just to delay this multigenerational, multibillion-dollar project. Many, if not most, Nevadans want to have an honest discussion about Yucca Mountain, and the state’s politicians and opinion writers should start to listen.

Dan Schinhofen is vice-chairman of the Board of Nye County Commissioners.

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