Guinn's Veto of Yucca Mountain – Eureka County Nuclear Waste Page

Gov. Guinn will veto President Bush's Yucca Mountain decison

CARSON CITY - Gov. Kenny Guinn announced today he will exercise his Notice of Disapproval to the U.S. Congress (the Governor's Veto) upon hearing President George W. Bush's decision to recommend Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository.

"I am outraged, as are the citizens of Nevada, that this decision would go forward with so many unanswered questions," Gov. Guinn said. "As I mentioned to the President, I believe that we deserve a scientific response to the nearly 300 critical questions the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stated must be resolved before going forward with Yucca Mountain."

"As a state we are solidly united to continue our fight against Yucca Mountain becoming the nation's nuclear dump. We will exhaust every option and press our legal case to the limit. The Nevada Legislature, cities, counties and now the private sector have raised $5.4 million toward our fight."

DOE has failed to prove that nuclear waste will not leak into the water table. The General Accounting Office and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board also support this view. DOE has not completed the site characterization in compliance with the law. Nearly 300 key scientific studies in nine critical areas identified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are incomplete.

Only today did DOE deliver to the Governor, the final Environmental Impact Statement. This does not comport with the intent of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in which the Governor, prior to the recommendation, is to be provided all decision documents in order to conduct "meaningful review."

"Receiving the final EIS just hours before the Presidential decision hardly provides me and the State of Nevada meaningful review," Gov. Guinn said. "Once again, this is an outrage."

From the office of Governor Kenny Guinn

From the office of
Governor Kenny Guinn