Democratic Assemblyman Howard Watts speaks Thursday, May 2, 2024, during a news conference outside Sol-Up Solar in Las Vegas. Nevada Democratic politicians called the news conference to criticize Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown for recently uncovered remarks in which he expressed support for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in nearby Nye County.
Friday, May 3, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Democratic Nevada representatives and local policy advocates gathered Thursday to criticize Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sam Brown for his endorsement two years ago of plans to store the nation’s nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in nearby Nye County.
Yucca Mountain has long been the proposed permanent site for the nation to store nuclear waste from power plants and disposed weapons, of which the U.S. currently has none. Brown spoke in favor of the project at a fundraising event in 2022. The Los Angeles Times this week reported on a 2022 recording in which Brown called Yucca Mountain a potential “great source of revenue” for Nevada.
Although Congress approved funding for the site in 2002, Nevada legislators of bipartisan stripes for decades have blocked Yucca Mountain from becoming operational, which Democratic leaders on Thursday said made Brown’s endorsement even more appalling.
“Sam Brown is one of the extreme few who believes that this is something that would make sense for Nevada,” state Assemblyman Howard Watts said during the meeting. “It puts him dramatically out of touch with the people of this state.”
Republican U.S. Senatorial candidate Sam Brown, with his wife Amy Brown, signs in at the Secretary of State office as he arrives to files his paperwork to run for the Senate, Thursday, March 14, 2024, at the State Capitol in Carson City, Nev. Brown is seeking to replace incumbent U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen.
Republican voters in Nevada will select their party’s nominee for this year’s U.S. Senate election in the June 11 primary — a contest in which Brown is largely considered to be the front-runner. If nominated, he’ll face incumbent Democratic Sen. Jackie Rosen in November in a race that could determine majority control of the Senate.
Brown faces an uphill battle against Rosen, according to recent polling from Emerson College. A new poll this week from Emerson shows the gap in a race between Brown and Rosen widening, with Rosen leading 45% to Brown’s 37%. The other almost 18% of respondents are still undecided.
Democratic campaigners are well aware of Brown’s probable nomination and are already centering much of Rosen’s campaign platform opposite of Brown’s. They used the event Thursday to condemn both the Yucca Mountain plan and the candidate.
“This issue isn’t Republicans versus Democrats, it’s Sam Brown versus Nevada,” said Rory Reid, former chair of the Clark County Commission and the son of the late Sen. Harry Reid, who gained assurances as Senate Democratic leader from administrations to not fund efforts to license Yucca Mountain. “Mr. Brown’s position ignores the collective wisdom of almost every other Nevadan that has ever been elected to serve this state in any capacity.”
Train tracks are seen through Yucca Mountain during a congressional tour Thursday, April 9, 2015, near Mercury.
Detractors of the nuclear waste storage plan cite Yucca Mountain’s geological makeup and required routes to transport the nuclear waste among the potential dangers to Nevadans. The Yucca Mountain facility is on 33 known earthquake fault lines according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and speakers at the meeting expressed concern that earthquakes could destabilize the facility and any nuclear waste inside of it.
Moving the waste from its origins nationwide to Yucca Mountain for storage would also require passing through numerous populated areas across the country, including the Las Vegas Strip in Southern Nevada. Any accident involving a truck or train carrying nuclear waste could yield disastrous results. While there have been no major accidents in the U.S. involving radiological materials, there were over 1,000 train derailments in 2022, according to data collected from the Federal Railroad Administration by NPR.
The increased revenue Brown suggested in his endorsement for the Yucca Mountain plan would likely come in the form of financial incentives for the state. In 2015, several Republican congressmen supporting the project suggested giving Nevada more rights to the Colorado River water or other benefits, but most opponents were not swayed, and the project still remains blocked.
Speakers at the event Thursday said that no solution would be appropriate without the express approval of Nevadans.
“We need a solution that’s based on science, we need a solution that is based on consent,” Watts said.
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