Screw Nevada Bill

Screw Nevada Bill. This is the colloquial name for a controversial 1987 amendment to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The measure, formally an amendment to the Department of Energy appropriations bill, singled out Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the sole site to be characterized for a permanent national high-level radioactive waste repository, bypassing the original Act's process for studying multiple sites. The name reflects widespread perception in Nevada that the state was being unfairly targeted by the United States Congress.

Background and legislative history

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, signed by President Ronald Reagan, established a detailed, scientifically-driven process for selecting two permanent geologic repositories for spent nuclear fuel and defense waste. The law mandated studies of multiple sites, with the first repository slated to open by 1998. By the mid-1980s, the Department of Energy had identified three candidate sites for the first repository: Yucca Mountain, and locations in Texas and Washington. Intense political opposition emerged from powerful figures like House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas and Senator Scoop Jackson of Washington. In 1987, facing escalating costs and political pressure, Congress moved to amend the process. The provision, inserted into a must-pass spending bill by key legislators including Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana and Representative Morris K. Udall of Arizona, eliminated further study of the sites in Texas and Washington, leaving only Yucca Mountain under consideration.

Provisions and intent

The amendment effectively terminated the Department of Energy's site characterization activities at the Deaf Smith County site in Texas and the Hanford Site in Washington. It directed all further study and funding exclusively toward Yucca Mountain, making it the de facto sole candidate. The legislation also established the Office of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator and provided benefits to potential hosts for a Monitored Retrievable Storage facility, though no such facility was ever sited. Proponents, including many in the nuclear power industry and from states with large accumulations of waste, argued the move was necessary to streamline a stalled process, control costs for entities like the Tennessee Valley Authority, and finally provide a solution for utilities operating plants like Three Mile Island. They contended a single-site focus was the only politically feasible path forward.

Political and public reaction

Reaction in Nevada was immediate and furious, uniting politicians from both parties. The state's congressional delegation, including Democratic Senator Harry Reid and Republican Senator Chic Hecht, denounced the law as a profound injustice. Governor Richard Bryan and Attorney General Brian Sandoval led legal and political challenges. The term "Screw Nevada Bill" was coined by the state's media and fiercely embraced by citizens, symbolizing a belief that Nevada was selected not on scientific merit but due to its low political clout compared to Texas and Washington. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Nuclear Information and Resource Service allied with the state. Conversely, lawmakers from other regions, particularly those with nuclear power plants facing storage crises, defended the amendment as a pragmatic necessity.

Impact and legacy

The law fundamentally altered the nation's nuclear waste policy, creating a decades-long political and legal stalemate. It galvanized Nevada's permanent opposition to the Yucca Mountain project, leading to numerous lawsuits, regulatory hurdles, and sustained opposition from figures like Senator Harry Reid, who later as Senate Majority Leader wielded significant power to block the project. The Department of Energy submitted a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2008, but the project was effectively halted by the Obama administration. The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future later criticized the singling-out of Nevada as a central policy failure. The legacy is a still-unresolved national impasse over nuclear waste disposal, with spent fuel remaining at reactor sites across the country, such as Diablo Canyon Power Plant and Indian Point Energy Center, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico handling only defense transuranic waste.

Category:United States federal energy legislation Category:Nuclear waste in the United States Category:History of Nevada Category:1987 in American law