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Yucca Vote Sparks Debate Over Nuclear Waste

LAS VEGAS -- The image persists of a unified business community battling to keep the nation's nuclear waste from Southern Nevada.

The reality reflects the nuance of a complex political debate.

Some like Silver State Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tod Little are outspoken in their opposition to the Yucca Mountain project.

"I don't think anyone who's thinking rationally would want to have a nuclear waste dump 80 miles from their house. I don't think it's a tough call," Little said.

Others have adopted a conciliatory approach.

"I say what nine out of 10 people in Nevada believe," said Las Vegas car dealer Jim Marsh. "Why don't we get our head out of the sand and take advantage of some of the (financial) rewards that are there?"

Whatever the take, there's an emerging school of thought that business leaders may have to ease the tone of their rhetoric.

The reason is simple.

The more heated the talk, the greater the local, regional and national focus on the repository - publicity that could keep Yucca-wary tourists, businesses and home buyers from Southern Nevada.

Many have heard the same doomsday-tinged messages that were crafted for members of Congress in hopes of an anti-Yucca vote.

"That is the dilemma that Las Vegas is in right now," said Los Angeles marketing executive Anthony Mora. "They're fighting it tooth and nail, and understandably, but if they lose they'll have to reverse field to convince people that it's OK to come here despite the dump."

Somer Hollingsworth is dealing with that emerging reality.

The president and chief executive officer of the business-recruiting Nevada Development Authority routinely touts the region to out-of-state executives.

In theory, the recent Yucca talk would have made it tougher to recruit new businesses. Yet, Hollingsworth, whose organization opposes the repository, said he has never been asked about the issue by the target of one of his pitches.

"So what we're going to do going forward is business as usual," he said. "For all intents and purposes we're going to ignore it unless it's brought up by the companies."

For that, NDA officials have developed a list of key Yucca questions and answers. It reads:

- When would the dump open? As early as 2010.

- What could the impact be on the valley? Don't know at this point.

- What if a waste-carrying truck were to overturn? Don't know.

- What is the upside to this? Possibly extra business at the test site.

The state's political elite have opposed the Yucca project for nearly 20 years, fearing it would severely hamper the region's economy while creating the potential for a deadly disaster.

Major U.S. companies and small, mom-and-pop operated businesses have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the Las Vegas-Henderson region.

The opening of a waste site less than two hours north of two of the country's fastest growing cities could severely slice into the value of those investments, or so the thinking goes.

On the surface it would appear that major real estate developers would oppose the project. But that's not necessarily the case.

"We have been fairly neutral along the line," said Del Webb Corp. spokesman Sean Patrick.

Del Webb's parent company, Michigan-based Pulte Homes, operates in 44 states, many of which want to send their dump to a Nevada waste site, making it a politically tricky issue for the homebuilder.

"It certainly is. It certainly is," Patrick acknowledged.

A spokesman for Summerlin-developer Howard Hughes Corp. failed to return Tuesday phone messages.

On the Strip, a top gaming executive eyed the Senate results with a hint of the reserve that has dominated many of the industry's public statements on the topic.

"I honestly don't think it will have an impact on tourism until or unless there is an incident," said MGM Mirage Senior Vice President Alan Feldman. "The presence of nuclear waste does not necessarily have an affect on tourism. If there is an incident then I'm afraid it could have a very serious affect."

As for the suggestion that local business and political leaders may want to transform their long-stated opposition to Yucca into a friendlier rhetorical bent, Las Vegas marketing executive Billy Vassiliadis offered a quick response.

"Many Nevadans have not started a serious consideration of how we're going to deal with it because many are optimistic this won't come to fruition," Vassiliadis said. "We need to ... continue to support our state's elected leaders and fight the fight."

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