EDITORIAL GOOD VETO, BAD VETO WHEN MONEY IS A FACTOR, DAVIS' THINKING SUFFERS.

AMID a flurry of last-minute bill signings, Gov. Gray Davis has vetoed legislation that would have banned the disposal of nuclear waste in urban areas, including three dumps in and around the San Fernando Valley. He also killed a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain state driver's licenses.

These two developments lead to one logical conclusion:

The nuclear-power industry has more money to kick into the Davis campaign than do illegal immigrants.

Throughout his administration, Davis has shown that neither principles, nor ideology nor practical considerations will interfere with his leadership. Donations drive his decisions.

But the governor's latest vetoes show that good decisions can come from bad motivations - 50 percent of the time, anyway.

On the driver's license issue, for example, Davis made the right call.

Clearly, there is a great need to get illegal immigrants documented and accounted for, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks exposed how vulnerable we are.

For illegal immigrants, their de facto invisible status makes them easy targets for exploitation and presents a danger to all of the state's residents, especially when they get behind the wheel without licenses or insurance.

But the business of identifying and documenting foreign nationals belongs to the federal government. Granting state IDs to immigrants who haven't gone through any sort of federal screening could make life all the easier for terrorists.

Besides, it would be foolish to offer immigrants the opportunity to obtain documentation without some corresponding punishment for those who don't. Becoming accountable shouldn't be a voluntary perk, but a prerequisite of living in the United States.

If only Davis had been so thoughtful on the nuclear-waste question.

Giving in to intense pressure from the nuclear industry, which has contributed handsomely to his campaigns, Davis lent his approval to the ongoing dumping of radioactive material from Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Laboratory into local dumps like Calabasas, Bradley Landfill and Sunshine Canyon.

At the levels now permitted under state law, those living near or around such contaminated dumps will be exposed to the radioactive equivalent of two chest X-rays a year.

Davis defended his decision by pledging to uphold a court-ordered moratorium on dumping low-level radioactive waste above background radiation levels at public landfills. That assurance, however, would have no effect on the dumps in the greater Valley area.

For all Davis has done to preserve the Santa Monica Mountains for the millionaires living on and around them, he seems to take little interest in preserving the quality of life - and minimizing cancer risks - for the ordinary people on the Valley floor.

Of course, it's not ordinary people who bankroll political campaigns.

Despite the governor's clarity on the driver's license issue, his bungling of the nuclear-waste question reminds us that money too often impairs his leadership abilities.