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June 30, 2006
Hollis says county must help make Yucca workCOMMISSION CHAIRMAN WANTS DUAL-USE RAILROAD LINE FOR NUCLEAR WASTE, COMMERCE
By MARK WAITE
Hollis said his remarks were his alone. But he added, "It is our goal as local government most affected by the repository to do everything in our power to make it work, and anything less than that would be a failure of our duties and our responsibilities to the citizens that we represent." "We will do our best to be part of the path forward for the repository program and a part of the solution for new generations of nuclear power plants that will eventually serve as the nation's energy security," he said. Transportation of nuclear waste, the effort to examine some type of recycling of nuclear waste, and mid-term storage of nuclear waste while the repository is being built, will be three key issues, Hollis said. But he said, "Whether we ever do full recycling or not, Yucca Mountain is necessary. "We want the people who work in Yucca Mountain to live in our county and we want the business and industry associated with development and operation of the repository to be located in Nye County to the best extent that it makes best business sense. We want to know you and we want you to know us." The U.S. Department of Energy had debated building a rail line to ship the waste from existing rail lines in Caliente in eastern Nevada to Yucca Mountain, traveling around Nellis Air Force Test and Training Range. Recently there has been talk about building a shorter rail line from Hawthorne down western Nevada to Yucca Mountain. Hollis discounted opposition by Nye County residents to the shipments of the high level nuclear waste. Instead, he urged officials to consider dual use of the rail line for commerce as well as nuclear waste, with a Yucca Mountain rail line that would hook up with existing railheads on the other end. "Transportation is not an issue that most Nye citizens worry about. We are especially interested in the potential economic development a rail line might bring to our communities," Hollis said. "The railroad investment could easily be expanded to benefit north-south commerce in the western United States. Spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste has safely been transported for years. The private sector has clearly demonstrated its capabilities in transportation." Hollis said considering all the things a county commissioner has to deal with every day, he'd rank nuclear waste No. 10. "Dogs and cats and animal control come way before nuclear waste," Hollis said to laughter. "I get zero calls on Yucca Mountain but when it comes to dogs and cats I get it every single day." Hollis said in the face of the misfortunes the Yucca Mountain program faces and the uncertainty that exists, it should be viewed as an opportunity for everyone assembled in the room. "I look forward to your companies setting up shop in Nye County, sooner rather than later," Hollis said. |
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