Utah officials not confident public informed about Nevada test

[Jahness]

Utah officials not confident public informed
about Nevada test

By JENNIFER TALHELM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Las Vegas SUN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of Utah's congressional delegation said
they're not satisfied that the government has provided enough information
about the safety of its plans to detonate a 700-ton explosive in the
Nevada desert.

Congressional aides on Wednesday toured the site where the non-nuclear
explosion - called "Divine Strake" - will take place, and they grilled
federal officials about plans for the June 2 test.

Utah residents and officials are concerned that the resulting mushroom
cloud will shake loose radioactive soil from past nuclear weapons tests
at the Nevada Test Site, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Utah officials said Thursday they want the government to do more to
convince them that the test should go forward.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asked for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency
and the Energy Department to hold a public briefing for southern Utah
residents.

"I'm not confident the public has enough information about this," Hatch
said in a statement Thursday. "My staff learned safety details from
test officials that could have helped the public if they had been released
long ago, and the good people downwind of the site need to hear them."

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, still is waiting for information about
whether Divine Strake is an indication that the government might again build
new nuclear weapons and test them in Nevada.

Matheson said Pentagon budget documents, other materials and even
recent interviews with officials mention plans for new nuclear weapons. He
and others are concerned that the June 2 test is in preparation for a
low-yield nuclear bomb.

A letter he sent to the agency on April 7 asking about its nuclear
plans and other concerns is still unanswered, he said.

"The information from yesterday's briefing is not reassuring," he said
in a statement Thursday.

While Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, believes every precaution is being
taken to ensure the test is done safely, he wants a personal briefing
from the National Nuclear Security Administration, his spokeswoman
MaryJane Collipriest said.

"This personal briefing will help him determine whether the test should
proceed," she said.

Cheri Abdelnour, a spokeswoman for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency,
said she could not immediately respond to specific questions about the
Utah officials' concerns.

She said the test will help the agency design a more effective
conventional weapon to penetrate hard and deeply buried targets.

The agency has said its environmental assessment determined the
explosion should not disturb surface contamination at the Test Site.

But Hatch and others have said officials have done a poor job
communicating that to Utah residents downwind of the site, who are still
suffering illnesses resulting from their exposure to Cold War-era nuclear
tests.

Hatch also still wants more information about the underground effects
of the explosion, his spokesman Peter Carr said.

His office has raised concerns about inconsistencies in information
from the government about the distance between the Divine Strake explosion
site and where previous underground nuclear weapons tests took place.

"I don't want any testing to harm Utahns again, and I'm still concerned
about a bomb test so near to past nuclear test sites," Hatch said. "I'm
skeptical about taking the word of test officials, given what happened
during the last nuclear tests. We'll also take a look at some outside
data and expertise, too, before deciding if this test can be conducted
safely."