The DOE is examining whether the small city 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas should receive radioactive waste from all over the country. The city generates no nuclear waste of its own. The DOE is holding a series of public meetings in Las Vegas this month on the sensative issue.

The story began in 1982, when the Nuclear Waste Policy Act targeted the need for a geological depository for high-level waste. This waste consists of radiator fuel rods and liquids from commercial experiments that will be dangerously reactive for a quarter of a million years. Containing this waste is of primary importance until safer methods to neutralize the highly radioactive waste is found.

Congress passed a bill in 1987 picking Nevada as the dumping site. The bill, which was amended by Congress later, was labeled the "Screw Nevada" bill by opponents. The waste will have to pass through 43 states with populated districts in order to reach Yucca. There are 103 operating nuclear reactors in the country.

The nuclear energy lobby "has a lot of money and is a very important force in Congress," said Lisa Gue, spokesperson for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. Congress appears to be willing to settle for what Gue calls an "out of sight out of mind" solution to the problem. The dilemma has developed interesting relationships between Republicans and Democrats in Nevada, who are both opposed to the bill, and formed a coalition in order to veto the bill in Congress.

Congress stated that the hearings must be held on site of the proposed dumping ground, with the supposed intention of allowing the public to be involved.