Nye County agrees with the U.S. Department of Energy's application for a rail route to Yucca Mountain as the safest way to transport nuclear waste but the county told department it should be a through route rather than a dead-end line.

DOE is taking comments on its application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to the Surface Transportation Board to build a 319-mile railway from Caliente to Yucca Mountain as the preferred route, skirting around the Nellis Air Force Training Range. The Mina route is also still listed as under study, a 240- to 254-mile route beginning just south of Hawthorne.

The county's letter, signed by Nye County Commission Chairwoman Joni Eastley, says DOE made little or no effort to deal with the socioeconomic issues associated with the rail route, specifically a through railroad.

Nye County in the past has talked about the economic benefits of dual use of the railroad and connecting it through to Union Pacific Railroad lines from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City in Jean.

The county's letter, dated April 15, was approved without discussion by county commissioners.

"Specifically it makes little sense to spend over $2 billion on a rail spur that does relatively little to contribute to rail infrastructure and economic development in western Nevada and the Southwestern United States when other identified routes with greater economic development potential and more positive socio-economic impacts that appear less difficult and less expensive to construct exist," the county wrote.

Nye County has requested a hearing on the issue.

Eastley's letter says in spite of the state's longstanding opposition to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, there has been no public policy debate on the issue of optimizing the rail route.

The November 2007 study by Wilbur Smith Associates and URS Corp. for the Nye County Nuclear Waste Project Office, obtained a list of 30 possible shippers in Nye and Lincoln counties from the Nevada Commission on Economic Development who could use the Mina and Caliente corridors under a dual use arrangement for the rail line.

Total public and private benefits ranged from $21 million to $67 million for the Caliente corridor and $401 million to $2.3 billion for the Mina corridor, which would have more carloads of freight, 28,000 versus 4,200, and more workers per carload in the various industries.

Preliminary specifications call for a single track main line with sidings to allow inbound and outbound trains to pass. There would be three to five weekly trains transporting high-level nuclear waste inbound to Yucca Mountain traveling at a maximum speed of 40 mph.

While Nye County is pushing for dual use of the railroad, the study notes, "DOE intends that these trains will exclusively transport HLW (high level waste) and SNF (spent nuclear fuel) casks accompanied by safety and security equipment and personnel."

The Wilbur Smith study points out "a new rail line in the Caliente corridor will not offer broad commercial benefit to businesses throughout Nye, Esmeralda and Lincoln counties." Industries along that route ship insufficient quantities to justify a stand-alone commercial rail operation, the study states.

The Mina corridor, however, includes companies with bulk commodities that could ship materials for construction, landscaping and fuel distribution, the study states.

The Nye County consultants suggest a business park tying into the rail line near Yucca Mountain at Crater Flat in Amargosa Valley.

Industries like cinder-block producer Cind-R-Lite, U.S. Ecology and the Ponderosa Dairy could use the rail line, the study suggests.

The extension of the rail line to Jean would route it through Pahrump, where a team track would be built -- a short track of 1,000 feet or less available for use by a customer.