Nevada sues to block plutonium shipment

Nevada has filed suit to block a federal plan to ship weapons grade plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site in Southern Nevada.

The suit filed Nov. 30 seeks a preliminary injunction blocking the plan by the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration. The motion charges the plan violates the National Environmental Policy Act and several regulations.

“As I have made clear throughout my tenure as governor, Nevada will not stand for anything that could potentially harm the health, safety and/or welfare of our citizens,” said Gov. Brian Sandoval. “So long as I am governor of the Silver State, Nevada will fight this issue at every level.”

The suit says the Department of Energy failed to prepare environmental impact statements required by NEPA that evaluate the impact of shipping and storing a metric ton of plutonium or evaluate alternatives to storing the radioactive material in Nevada. In addition, it says federal officials failed to address Nevada’s concerns that up to 34 metric tons more of plutonium might eventually be shipped here and failed to consider the risks of transporting the material cross country or how the shipments could impact the Las Vegas metropolitan area.