Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Governor requests meeting with Trump over secret plutonium shipment

Steve Sisolak

Steve Sisolak

Gov. Steve Sisolak has requested a meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss a secret shipment of weapons-grade plutonium to Nevada last year and the dormant Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.

The request for a meeting comes after the cancellation of a tour of Yucca Mountain by a congressional delegation including Democratic Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was slated to be on the tour as well, and the Governor’s Office is attempting to set up another time to meet with Perry.

In the letter to Trump, Sisolak criticized the handling of the delegation’s trip, calling communications with the state secretive.

“The way the planned visit was handled, with no notice to my office from Secretary Perry or the DOE until after the visit was cancelled, is like the way the shipment of plutonium was managed — in secret, without my office’s input, and with disclosure to me only after the fact,” he said.

Sisolak is not the only official pushing back against the plutonium shipment.

Cortez Masto and Rosen demanded briefings on the shipment, and state Attorney General Aaron Ford has filed a lawsuit to block future shipments.

“As governor, I am committed to ensuring the safety of Nevada’s citizens and the protection of the state’s unique environment and economy from the extraordinary risks posed by Yucca Mountain,” Sisolak said in the letter.