A key element in campaign against Yucca Mountain has been an effort by anti-repository forces to convince the public that there will be no compensation for taking on the burden of the repository. The theory is apparently that if Nevadans are sufficiently propagandized with the idea that no benefit will come to the state, no matter what is offered by the Nuclear Waste Negotiator or the U.S. Congress, they will be less likely to give up their opposition to the site. To carry out this reeducation campaign, which hinges on convincing the populace that they should distrust their national government, a concerted effort was required from NWPO, state politicians, the socioeconomic researchers at Mountain West, and environmental activists. Loux was perhaps himself engaging in a bit of propaganda, attempting to convince Nevadans of the lack of any potential benefits of hosting the repository. In reality, there were many monetary and non-monetary options open to negotiation, including perhaps a limited right to veto the site even while accepting benefits.
Nuclear waste involves no great harm to the areas involved.
In fact, the greatest obstacle to monetary compensation for accepting Yucca Mountain has not been the federal government. Indeed Congress has nearly begged the state of Nevada to accept benefits. Instead, it was Nevada's own politicians who fought tooth and nail to torpedo any hint that Nevada might receive compensation for Yucca Mountain. Between Senators Bryan and Reid in the Senate, and Governor Miller and Robert Loux in the state of Nevada, all talk of negotiating for benefits was proactively squashed. Efforts to negotiate a high-ticket price tag to buy us off won't change our opposition.