Esmeralda County is one of ten counties designated as an affected unit
of local government (AULG).
Esmeralda County has been overseeing the site characterization of Yucca
Mountain since 1988 even though we were not granted "affected" status
by the U.S. Department of Energy until 1991 after successful joint petition
with Inyo County, California, to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Esmeralda County's proximity to the proposed repository in neighboring
Nye County and its location on a potential highway route that may be used for transportation of high-level radioactive waste and the proposed Caliente rail route for shipping the waste to Yucca Mountain make our county vitally interested in the environmental,
health and safety impacts of the project and in the socioeconomic effects
arising from siting, construction and operation of the proposed repository. More
related information
New information related to the Licensing Hearings
Contention submittals:
The Nevada Counties of, Esmeralda, Churchill, Lander and Mineral (the Four Counties) filed joint contentions on December 19, 2008. On May 11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Licensing Hearing Board (a panel of judges) issued a memo and order announcing the parties who have shown compliance with NRC board orders and have shown compliance with NRC guidelines and have standing and admitted contentions into the hearings. The Four Counties have 4 contentions admitted into the proceeding and will now be in the process of preparing depositions, expert witnesses and documents during the discovery period. The schedule for the hearings can be found here.
