No licenses have been received for a nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain, but the federal Department of Energy is already saying they have chosen routes on which to bring nuclear waste through Nevada. They have chosen what they call the Caliente Corridor as their first choice and the Carlin Corridor as their second, each requiring more than 300 miles of new rail line. State officials are saying the last time more than 300 miles of new rail has been laid in Nevada was probably during the time of Theodore Judah and the Central Pacific line that connected the two coasts.

Both Nevada’s senators have decried the proposal. Senator John Ensign, (R), said it’s just another federal effort to ram the nuclear repository down Nevada’s throat, while Senator Harry Reid, (D), said calling for a route before even being licensed won’t put DOE any closer to reality.

The Caliente route, as proposed by DOE would bring nuclear waste by railroad from Utah to Caliente, Nevada on existing rail line, and then, new rail would have to be laid from Rachel north to Tonopah, then west to Goldfield, then south to Beatty, some 319 miles, to skirt the Nevada Test Site. That rail line would include land in Nye, Lincoln, and Esmeralda Counties.

The so called Carlin route would bring nuclear waste on the existing Union Pacific line to Beowawe, about 40 miles west of Elko, then south through Crescent Valley in Eureka County. From that point a new rail line amounting to some 322 miles would have to be built to bring nuclear waste laden railroad trains south to Beatty.

One report from Lander County indicates the county has already received more than $200,000 each year for the past four years to do studies on the consequences of transporting nuclear waste through the county. It isn’t apparent from the reports received to this point, where that money has come from.

Those routes only take into consideration nuclear waste coming from the east. From the northwest and west, if rail lines are to be used, the waste would most likely be taken on the northern circuit of Union Pacific across the northern tier of counties by way of the Feather River route out of California, then connect at Beowawe for its trip south. There are nuclear facilities in Washington state and California. There have also been discussions about bringing waste in from Asian sources to be stored at Yucca.

According to a DOE announcement, “No actual construction of a rail line within the selected corridor can take place until completion of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), is completed.” It may take more than one EIS if each of the counties involved demand such.

In the meantime, oral arguments are scheduled to take place during the first two weeks of January before a three judge federal panel. Nevada has ongoing law suits against the government over a Yucca Mountain EIS, and the outcome of that suit could strike down any attempt at building hundreds of miles of rail line through the silver state. There are five lawsuits in all pending before the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., from EIS suits over water rights and over constitutional issues. A three judge panel will hear all five cases in tandem, scheduled for January 14 .

Estimates of cost for the Caliente route exceed $880 million, and no estimates have been released for the Carlin route which is slightly longer.

One of the reasons the Caliente route is as long as proposed, that is trekking around the Nevada Test Site, is because of the Air Force. They use the test site for bombing practice for jets stationed at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, and they won’t allow the nuclear waste to be transported across their ranges. Not safe, they say.

If the federal government wins all its cases, it will still be close to a decade or more before any railroad building can take place. The environmental studies are expected to be mammoth in size and scope. If you have been around long enough to remember when the government was looking to build railroads through all the north south valleys, and then shuttle nuclear tipped ICBMs, you’ll begin to understand the logistics of building rail line through active ranch land, through private property, even through already federally mandated land that can’t be accessed by motorized equipment.