a231  1254  29 Oct 80
AM-Referendum '80: Nuclear Rdp, Bjt,650
By LEE MITGANG
AP Urban Affairs Writer
    Voters in six states will decide the fate of anti-nuclear
propositions on Election Day, and nuclear power foes - who until now
have fared poorly at the polls - are given a chance of victory in at
least one or two of the contests.
    The only major ballot victories for opponents of nuclear power have
been in Oregon and Missouri, where voters in 1976 prohibited
utilities from passing the cost of nuclear plant construction along to
consumers while the work was in progress. The Oregon measure applied
equally to non-nuclear plants.
    In September, nuclear foes were defeated in a Maine referendum that
would have shut down the state's only nuclear power plant and banned
future nuclear development.
    But public concern over radioactive waste, and how to dispose of it
safely, may turn the tide in statewide referendums which focus on
those concerns in Missouri and Oregon.
    Montana, South Dakota, and Washington State will also consider
nuclear propositions in November.
    In Massachusetts, voters in 34 communities will consider a
non-binding referendum on whether future nuclear plant construction
should be halted. A strong anti-nuclear vote is forecast.
    ''I guess 50 percent of the people will vote against nuclear
power,'' said Murray Campbell, a Cohasset, Mass., consulting engineer
who heads the pro-nuclear Massachusetts Voice of Energy.
    Even if anti-nuclear issues are passed in one or more states, it
won't necessarily signify that the public has soured on nuclear power.
In Missouri, for instance, polls have said that voters may be willing
to pass referenda halting nuclear construction until safe ways are
found to dispose of radioactive waste. But the polls also say most
Missourians do not oppose nuclear power in principle.
    ''We would obviously have concern if these things pass,'' said Kirk
Willison, a spokesman for the pro-nuclear Edison Electric Institute.
''But it's hard to say it would have a drastic national effect. The
most important one this year was Maine. Maine was the only one to date
that would have closed down the operations of an existing nuclear
plant.''
    In Missouri, voters will consider a measure that would ban the
operation of nuclear plants until there are federally licensed
disposal sites for storage of nuclear waste. Since no such sites exist
yet, that would effectively ban nuclear plants in the state. Missouri
presently has one nuclear plant under construction.
    The measure also would require any utility building a nuclear plant
to post a bond adequate to decomission it once it became obsolete.
    In Oregon, Measure 7 would, like Missouri, require the existence of
federally licensed nuclear waste sites before new nuclear
construction could take place. It would further require voter approval
for future nuclear plants.
    Jim Hulden, a spokesman for Portland General Electric which operates
the Trojan nuclear plant near Rainier, said that ''most likely the
issue will pass, because people don't understand the measure.''
    He said in an interview that PGE had hoped to have another nuclear
plant built and operating in Oregon by the mid-1990s. But if Measure 7
passes, it would mean there would be no new plant until perhaps the
year 2010, since there won't be any federal waste disposal sites ready
until 1995.
    In Washington State, an initiative would ban, after June 30, 1981,
importation of nuclear waste into the state except for medical wastes.
Washington, South Carolina and Nevada are the only states that have
commercial nuclear waste dumps, and the ballot measure is specifically
aimed at the Hanford reservation operated by Nuclear Engineering Co.
    Initiative 84 in Montana would not outwardly prohibit uranium
mining, but would prohibit the milling of radioactive waste. The
Montana Mining Association maintains that would effectively end
uranium mining in the state since the ore would have to shipped out of
state for milling, or mill wastes would have to shipped out.
    In South Dakota, Measure 2 would require voter approval of future
nuclear power plants, radioactive waste disposal sites, and uranium
mines and mills. South Dakota has no nuclear plants at present.
    
ap-ny-10-29 1554EST
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