Word: nevada
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That makes Nevadans angry and afraid. They are worried that radioactivity from the underground storage facility could eventually leak, contaminating nearby groundwater. They have protested with lawsuits, letter-writing campaigns and public demonstrations near the site in Nevada where nuclear devices were once exploded. Yet they have been powerless to block the project. Nevada has long been the Federal Government's atomic playground (928 nuclear bombs were detonated at the Nevada Test Site from 1951 to 1992), and the state's politicians haven't had any clout in Washington...
...them does. Last May, Nevada's Democratic Senator Harry Reid succeeded in persuading Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords to bolt the Republican Party. Jeffords' switch gave Democrats control of the Senate--and promoted Reid from minority to majority whip, a perch he is currently trying to use to block the Bush Administration from putting the nuclear dump in his state. "This is wrong what they're trying to do," insists Reid. Last May, majority leader Tom Daschle flew to Las Vegas to speak at a fund raiser for Reid. "As long as we're in the majority," Daschle vowed, "[the Yucca...
...construction of new nuclear power plants (the technology now supplies about 20% of the nation's electricity), but that won't happen unless the industry finds a place to store the spent fuel rods now being held in temporary facilities at plants across the country. The state of Nevada can veto Bush's decision, but the veto can be overridden if both houses of Congress pass resolutions approving the site. And that's where Reid has a chance...
...leaders of the majority, Daschle and Reid are in a position to prevent the Senate from passing its approval resolution. They can't prevent the resolution from coming to a vote, but they can mobilize Democrats and can expect help from such G.O.P. dissenters as John Ensign, Nevada's other Senator, who has warned the White House that it will lose his vote on the energy plan if nuclear waste goes to Yucca. Bush is paying attention--he doesn't have Republican votes to spare...
...Reid faces an uphill battle. "Nobody wants the waste," explains Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski, the senior Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The 31 states that have nuclear power plants are not about to stand with Nevada--who wants radioactive garbage piling up in their backyard? Even some Nevada politicians realize that. "I can read the writing on the wall," says Nevada state senator Bill O'Donnell. "We're going to get the waste." O'Donnell believes Reid should negotiate with the Administration now so that Nevada would get something from the deal, such as a railroad through...