Error adds time for bomb-test comment

The Divine Strake pot is bubbling furiously.

The planned non-nuclear blast at the Nevada Test Site is drawing concern from the governor, members of Congress from two states and an expert author. Also, the National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Site Office, which is planning the explosion, has apologized for a major mistake in its environmental documentation and added two weeks to a written comment period.

Divine Strake is planned as a 700-ton conventional blast that would be detonated at the Nevada Test Site. Its stated purpose is to learn more about the explosive power needed to destroy underground nuclear facilities that may be built by adversaries.

Opponents are afraid that the huge explosion could kick up radioactive debris from previous nuclear tests and spread them off the site. The NNSA contends there's no danger.

Governor's strategy

Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. announced last week that he would hold public hearings on the issue because the NNSA was sponsoring only "public information" sessions on the blast and would not accept oral testimony.

On Monday, the Huntsman administration indicated it was thwarting the NNSA on the hearing debate. According to Donna Kemp Spangler, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Huntsman directed the DEQ to hold two hearings.

They are scheduled for Jan. 18 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Dunford Auditorium, Browning Building, Dixie State College, St. George, and for Jan. 24, at the Utah Capitol West Building, Room 135, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

"Gov. Huntsman will make introductory remarks at the Salt Lake City hearing and a court reporter will record all public comments at both meetings," Spangler wrote in a press release. "The governor will include a transcript of the hearings in his comment letter to NNSA/NSO opposing the Divine Strake experiment."

The error

A mistake by the NNSA has extended the deadline for written comments on the explosion by two weeks.

When the NNSA posted a draft environmental assessment on Dec. 22, it "inadvertently omitted" 10 pages from the document, says a press release from the NNSA Nevada Site Office. The 10 pages included information about agencies and people consulted, definition of technical terms and references. Written comments now are due by Feb. 7.

"NNSA apologizes for any inconvenience this inadvertent error may have caused," says the release.

Author's assessment

Richard L. Miller, an author who has written extensively about nuclear bomb detonations at the Test Site, says Divine Strake could kick up radiation that is more dangerous than claimed. The reason is that radioactive particles in the dust might become airborne and then inhaled.