LAS VEGAS (AP) — Gov. Brian Sandoval and members of Nevada's congressional delegation want the federal government to halt a plan to ship weapons-grade plutonium from South Carolina to a federal facility about 100 miles from Las Vegas.
The Republican governor on Thursday posted a vow on Twitter to, in his words, "fight ... at every level" the U.S. Energy Department announcement that it will store the radioactive bomb-making material at the former Nevada nuclear test site.
GOP U.S. Sen. Dean Heller demanded Energy Secretary Rick Perry stop what Heller called an "unreasonable and unnecessary" plan.
Heller also wants Perry to order a broad environmental study of health and safety risks.
The Energy Department is under court order to remove more than 2,200 pounds of plutonium from its Savannah River site in South Carolina.