Another boost to operations at the Nevada Test Site would be the proposed Radiological/Nuclear Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Complex. The 50-acre complex would replicate places that terrorists could sneak radioactive materials into the country, such as roads, airport entries and railroad tracks. It would also test sensors intended to thwart such attempts.

A draft environmental assessment on the proposal is expected to be available in June.

A May 4 note by Nevada officials to the DOE says the complex "has the potential, especially in Nevada, to evoke considerable public concern, given the past history of contamination from the nuclear weapons testing program."

The letter is from Robert R. Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, and is addressed to Dick Schmidhofer, the DOE's National Environmental Policy Act document manager.

A brief DOE description of the project and Loux's letter are posted on a state of Nevada Internet site, www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/nts.htm.

In a note to Schmidhofer, Erickson requested that the DOE conduct public hearings on the proposal in St. George, Cedar City and Kanab.

"This project would involve planned releases of radioactive materials, and Utahns living downwind have had a tragic, disastrous experience with exposure to radiation released from NTS," Erickson wrote.

"Utah residents deserve the opportunity to be fully informed of the need for, nature of, and potential risks and impacts from the project."

He told the Deseret Morning News that the test site is exhibiting a pattern of behavior that is of concern. "There doesn't seem to be any public policy debate around it," Erickson said, "and that's a serious problem."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com