Sen. Harry Reid will speak out tonight against the federal government's plan to develop a permanent nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada — a fight to which many Utahns may relate.

Reid, D-Nev., plans to discuss the Yucca Mountain site, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, on "60 Minutes," which airs at 6 tonight on CBS, Channel 2.

"How are you going to haul the most poisonous substance known to man through cities, towns, past farms, businesses, churches, schools and residences?" asks Reid. "This is the big secret the (Department of Energy) has. 'We'll give you that later, in the meantime, we'll just say we have a repository in Nevada,' " he tells CBS reporter Steve Kroft.

Anti-nuclear waste activists have tried to persuade Gov. Mike Leavitt and Utah's congressional delegation to join Nevada in its opposition to the government's plan to ship nuclear waste to Nevada.

The Energy Department has set 2010 as a target date for the facility's opening, but it most likely will be pushed back by five years because of federal regulations, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Edward McGaffigan (see related story).

In the interim, nuclear waste facilities are looking to temporarily store the nuclear fuel rods on the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah's west desert.

Leavitt has said his focus has been to keep the nuclear waste out of Utah.

But when the government begins to ship the nuclear fuel, by rail and truck, it will likely travel through Utah to get to Nevada, critics contend.

The fact that the federal government hasn't outlined its plans to safely transport the deadly material across the country is what has Reid concerned. What's more, he said, terrorists could target it.

"Every one of these trucks, every one of these trains, is a target of opportunity for a terrorist. You talk about dirty bomb, this is really a filthy bomb," Reid says.

But Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham contends the government knows how to do it safely.

Reid and others aren't buying that.

"As long as I'm the mayor, it ain't coming through," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says. "If I have to put barriers up and arrest whoever is trying to transport it, I promise you that's going to be done," he tells Kroft.

Las Vegas recently passed a law prohibiting nuclear waste from moving through its precincts. The state of Utah tried that but a federal judge struck down the laws as unconstitutional.

Many people in the West believe they are forced to accept the waste because they lack political clout, explains Las Vegas Sun Editor Brian Greenspun.

Las Vegas, population 1.6 million and climbing fast, is not a desert, says Greenspun, and it is no place for nuclear waste to pass through.

"Who wants to be outside a hotel on a Las Vegas strip when one of those trucks turns over? Accidents happen," Greenspun tells Kroft.

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E-mail: donna@desnews.com