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Nevada Senator Denounces Yucca Comments by Sununu

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., labeled as hypocritical and mercenary a former White House chief of staff who argues that Yucca Mountain should be transformed into a nuclear waste dump for the good of the nation.

Reid delivered his angry characterization of John Sununu on Saturday, a day after the one-time chief of staff to the first President Bush said Americans might choose to vacation elsewhere if Nevada is unwilling "to do its part" for homeland security.

Sununu, a former Republican governor of New Hampshire, was hired late last year by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to lobby on behalf of the proposed nuclear waste repository that would be located 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"I think it's just one of the most hypocritical things I've ever seen," Reid said of Sununu's comments. "This man is a paid gun. He would say anything for money. He should be ashamed of himself."

Reid fired off his angry remarks two days after Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommended that President Bush approve a Yucca nuclear waste repository, which could open as early as 2010.

Reid, who serves as the assistant majority leader in the Senate, has long-worked with Gov. Kenny Guinn and the three other members of Nevada's congressional delegation to oppose the nearly 20-year-old plan, arguing that the proposal poses severe health and safety risks to people in the region.

Sununu, who has a college degree in engineering, said the Sept. 11 terror attacks reinforced the need for a single location to dispose of radioactive waste. An estimated 77,000 tons of the highly dangerous refuse is temporarily stored at an estimated 80 sites throughout the country.

"The country has a responsibility to itself and its citizens to do the right thing," Sununu said in a Friday interview with the Review-Journal. "If Nevada is not willing to do its part in what is part of a national plan for homeland security ... maybe Americans ought to vacation somewhere else."

Top aides to Guinn and Reid said their bosses could be seen animatedly discussing Sununu's remarks before Saturday morning's Martin Luther King Day parade in downtown Las Vegas.

The advisers said the two men were clearly angered by the tone and substance of Sununu's comments.

Guinn declined a Saturday interview request to discuss the lobbyist's remarks, but his press secretary said the normally low-key governor was irritated by the implication that Nevadans are unpatriotic by opposing the proposal.

"John Sununu's comments were disappointing but typical for a lobbyist for the nuclear industry," said Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin. "In no way, shape or form should exerting your due process be viewed as unpatriotic. That's what being a good American is, and we'll exhaust every option in this battle. We'll do this as good, patriotic Americans."

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