E!!

Seems the All-Powerful and All-Knowing Wizard Harry Reid got all of 4,000 signatures on an Anti-Yucca petition urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not to approve the application for the Department of Energy to begin construction.  If there is as much opposition to Yucca as Reid claims, why so few Johnny Hancocks?

The whole Yucca “controversy” continues to amaze me.  What I’ve found from talking to regular folks is that Yucca really isn’t all that controversial except in the minds of Reid and others who are rabidly against it.  Most people seem to realize that Nevada would draw a HUGE paycheck in exchange for supporting the infrastructure of Yucca.  They are also appreciative of the potential cash boost to our construction industry and the creation of thousands of permanent jobs.

Here’s a little history lesson:

The U.S. Dept. of Energy had its first public meeting in Nevada on Yucca Mountain in 1983.  Don Veith, the Yucca Mountain project manager, presented an overview of the legislation.  The meeting was then opened to public comment.  Governor Richard Bryan stood and announced that he was “unalterably opposed” to the storage of “nuclear waste” in Nevada.  A surrogate for then-Congressman Harry Reid echoed the congressman’s “strong opposition.”  According to those present, most other attendees expressed an opinion along the lines of, “Interesting – maybe there’s something in it for us.”

But via the governor’s office and the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects (created in ‘85), the state officially adopted a negative view of Yucca.  And under Director Bob Loux, Yucca has faced two decades of unrelenting criticism and obstruction.

Along the way, several multi-billion dollar offers have been informally made to Nevada by the DOE and/or nuclear industry in exchange for the state’s acceptance of the repository.  At one point, the Reagan administration offered Nevada a multi-billion-dollar nuclear medicine and nuclear science research facility to be associated with UNLV and situated on the Nevada Test Site.  The offer was flatly rejected.

Ladies and gents, spent nuclear fuel is presently stored at temporary sites around the nation.  It is stored safely and without incident.  The nuclear reactors that render efficient electricity are also operated safely and without incident.  For the good of our economy and our nation, we should all take a second look at Yucca.  Please contact me if you would like to get on a Yucca Mountain mailing list and participate in future discussions, forums, panels, and meet-ups.

BTW – If anyone knows or can find out how Greg Nance got elected to the NV DOE Board in the first place, will you please email me?  Thank you!

The more I read and the more people I talk with, the weirder this Nance story gets.  I’m starting to wonder if the guy has some serious psychological issues and what the mental/emotional capacity of his wife may be – which prompts me to try to be kind with my questions and comments. 

The LVRJ, which portrayed a flirtatious Nance at a DOE Board meeting in its Sunday story, now says Nance was having “make-out sessions” during meetings this past weekend.  Board VP Ruggiero called the conduct “shocking and deplorable” in his interview with the RJ.  Yesterday Ruggiero told me he had “never seen anything like it.”

For those of you just catching up, Nance, 49, is married to Sharona Dagani, a wheelchair bound 20-year old with cerebral palsy.  He met her in a nursing home earlier this spring (where Nance was recovering from a heart attack) and the two were married two weeks ago.  Apparently Nance was showering Dagani with what one might generously call an abundance of affection during meetings at which she was seated next to him in her wheelchair.

The RJ story notes that Dagani won a $2M lawsuit from a medical malpractice lawsuit last year.  When asked about this, Nance says he signed a pre-nup that protects his wife’s assets and that he has taken a vow of poverty as a Pentacostal preacher for a ministry he operate(d) out of his home.

Married or not, one wonders what a 49 year old man is doing making out with a disabled woman of 20 at a public meeting in between napping and boasting about all the “partying” he is doing.  If Nance and Dagani have any concerned friends and/or family here in Vegas, perhaps you should look into the situation.

Well, as sometimes happens in politics, the story changes while a draft is sitting and waiting for more information.  Such is the case today with the resignation of Greg Nance, Nevada’s District 5 DOE Board member, in the aftermath of his ridiculous antics and highly improper behavior at this weekend’s Board meeting.

In preparation for making the details public and providing contact information for complaints from the public, I had interviewed acting Board President Ruggiero, emailed one other Board member, and was waiting on a call back from the DOE Ethics panel.  In lieu of that and since Nance is now gone (thank goodness!) here some excerpted lowlights from the LVRJ article about his behavior:

“…Nevada Board of Education member Greg Nance dangled a piece of jewelry in the face of his newlywed wife, ringing a tiny bell on a bracelet as she giggled…

The distraction caused fellow board member Cindy Reid to call for an immediate halt to Saturday’s video-conference of the state Board of Education…  “I don’t know what to say,” Reid said from a conference room on East Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas. “I’m embarrassed the public has to watch this. This is so inappropriate.”

Nance, who represents District 5, was unapologetic. “I will entertain my wife. I love my wife,” he said, adding that he was only answerable to the members of his Las Vegas district.  Bill Irvin, a deputy attorney general who advises the board, urged Nance to follow decorum.

Nance responded that there was no law saying his wife could not sit next to him at board meetings. “Therefore, bite me!” Nance told the attorney. 

Vice President Anthony Ruggiero, who was acting president for the absent President Marcia Washington, advised members of the public to file complaints and continued the meeting.

During a break, Nance, 49, told the Review-Journal that he married the 20-year-old woman 12 days ago. She has cerebral palsy and came to the meeting in a motorized wheelchair.  He said “too much partying and rock ‘n’ roll” over his honeymoon explained why he could not always stay awake or hear what was going on.

Because he was dozing during one policy discussion, Reid demanded that he take back his vote on his issue. The board agreed with Reid, but the issue passed by a wide margin anyway.”

I didn’t begrudge Nance his fair share of happiness with a wife 29 years his junior and who apparently had nothing better to do than sit by his side while he slept through DOE Board meetings.  But her presence at the conference table, Nance’s open flirting, Nance’s invitation to Ruggerio to “bite me,” and Nance falling asleep during discussions and voting were improper, ill-mannered, and just totally unacceptable. 

I was going to say Nance should be sanctioned or removed.  Nevada is already a political laughing stock in many ways and has more than enough clowns to go around.  Thankfully, Nance agreed.

I’m glad Chuck Muth keeps talking about Yucca Mountain.  Harry Reid says the debate is “over” and that the Yucca Repository will “never happen.”  The thing is, Yucca never enjoyed the benefit of a full, open debate.  It was quashed by Reid and Friends as “bad for Nevada” and that was That.

Here’s a flashback to some of my thoughts in early June:

“The United States Department of Energy submitted its license application for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission on June 3,” wrote Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto in an op/ed in the Nevada Appeal. “Nevada’s experts reviewed the application and quickly concluded that it is neither viable nor complete.”

I’m wondering who these “Nevada experts” were. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short stint on NV’s political airwaves and especially in re: to Yucca Mountain, it’s that the word “expert” gets bandied around like nobody’s business and due diligence and follow-up questions are key to uncovering the truth.  Very often, the so-called “expert” is some underqualified PR hack who is being paid to have the opinion he has.

I’d be willing to bet that some of these “Nevada experts” are people who have already come down against Yucca in the past.  And shall we ask how they managed to sift through the 8,600 page application in less than a week in order to render their “expert” verdict…?

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to take three to four years to evaluate all the information before reaching its decision on whether or not to license the Repository…so who were these speed-reading geniuses that managed to do it in 4 days???

We keep seeing what looks an awful lot like co-ordinated, biased knee-jerk opposition over Yucca Mountain.