Since 1993, he said, "some areas have not improved significantly and others have improved," apparently referring to the suitability of testing the nuclear rocket.

"We felt that our (Savannah River's) situation had improved, because indeed some of the facilities we had missions for no longer have missions, making them available for reuse."

The new report was not good news to J Truman, a Malad, Idaho man who grew up in Enterprise, Washington County, and is president of the anti-nuclear testing group Downwinders.

As the nuclear rocket plans mature, other DOE facilities will "want the plum themselves," he said.

"Really, there are only three areas with both limited populations and the wide-open, vast stretches of land under federal control" where tests could be proposed, he said. They are White Sands Missile Base, N.M.; the Nevada Test Site, and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

"I think it will be a fight between New Mexico, Nevada and Idaho." In Truman's opinion, the only place where politicians would welcome such a test facility is Idaho.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com