Thursday, June 4, 1998 | 9:38 a.m.
But it shouldn't be forgotten that the primary reason for the nuclear power industry setback in Congress rests with one man: President Clinton. If it wasn't for the president's consistent, unwavering vow that he would veto any plan by Congress to store nuclear waste temporarily at the Nevada Test Site, Nevadans would have likely lost the battle by now.
It should be remembered that while House Speaker Newt Gingrich pledged earlier this week that he would not permit a vote on the dump, it was the Gingrich-led House that in October 1997 voted 307-120 -- a veto-proof margin -- to send nuclear waste to Nevada.
Nevada has once again dodged the nuclear waste bullet, but Nevadans shouldn't be lulled into thinking that the influential nuclear power industry won't make another run again, especially since proponents of a nuclear waste dump are within striking distance in the Senate of overriding a presidential veto.
It's hard to imagine any past occupant of the White House who would have given Nevada such a fair shake. After all, Nevada has one of the smallest populations in the nation and doesn't carry much clout in presidential politics.
The president, however, has given the people of Nevada more time to mount a challenge to the efforts to store nuclear waste here. And for all of their elbowing for credit, Nevada's congressional delegates should be commended for their unity and unyielding opposition in this David vs. Goliath battle. While they don't wield the power of a presidential veto, the congressional delegates fought admirably.
The state needs to be dogged in its efforts to demonstrate that there is plenty of scientific evidence available to suggest that storing waste at Yucca Mountain would be dangerous to the environment and the people of the Las Vegas Valley.
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