WHITE HOUSE INVOLVEMENT IN WARD VALLEY LAND TRANSFER DELAYS

摘要

In 1993, California became the first state to license a new Compact disposal facility under thernsystem authorized by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act as amended. Construction ofrnthe facility has been delayed by the federal government’s refusal to transfer the project propertyrnto the state. Government documents produced in litigation filed by the state and its licensee tornobtain the land and recover monetary damages confirm high-level White House involvement inrndecisions to delay the project. These documents further reveal that senior federal officialsrnconcluded that the project was safe, but that political considerations prevented delivery of thernland to California. Combined with siting reverses in other Compact regions, California’srninability to proceed casts substantial doubt on the ability of the Policy Act to produce the stablernnational disposal system envisioned by Congress.