Yucca Mountain News Clips
Friday, May 30, 2003
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Las Vegas SUN
May 30, 2003
Improvements for Yucca are outlined
By Benjamin Grove
<grove@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas SUN
WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department's nuclear waste director has launched a comprehensive effort to improve efforts at Yucca Mountain, including a strategy to make workers feel free to raise concerns.
Margaret Chu's plan also includes management shifts, a "corrective actions" program, more attention to procedures and more worker accountability.
Chu outlined her efforts Thursday in a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"I have recognized the need to change our focus and improve our processes to meet rigorous NRC licensing requirements," Chu wrote in the five-page letter.
Chu, Energy officials and contractors at Yucca have been trying to fix procedural flaws as the department prepares to submit an application to the commission for a license to construct a storage site for high-level nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Commission officials are concerned about a number of problems, especially inside Yucca's Quality Assurance program, which is designed to confirm the quality of research methods and the technical and scientific data that has been gathered.
Officials asked Chu to send them a letter explaining her plan for changes. Among their concerns are internal survey results that revealed workers are not comfortable telling managers about problems.
The troubled program was the focus of a special Senate hearing this week organized by Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev. Of particular interest were reports that the department has retaliated against several auditors who spotlighted procedural flaws. The senators suspect that pressure from Yucca managers dissuaded two from testifying at Wednesday's hearing.
"It seems as though they would have had a thing or two to say about the information in this letter," Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said.
The two auditors could not be reached for comment this morning.
Chu's letter outlines an effort to create a new work culture.
"Our goal and responsibility is to create an environment in which employees freely raise safety issues without fear of harassment, intimidation, retaliation or discrimination and receive a timely, effective and respectful response," Chu wrote.
Chu said the department plans additional training of Yucca managers "to increase managers' effectiveness in receiving and acting on concerns."
Surveys will be conducted quarterly and the results provided to the NRC, Chu wrote. Chu also wrote that this year it has taken managers 27 days on average to investigate and respond to concerns, an improvement over the 111 days last year.
Chu's efforts appear to be a positive step, Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said.
Chu's effort is too little, too late, said Amy Spanbauer, spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.
"There is obviously a perverse and pervasive threat within the DOE system toward whistle-blowers," Spanbauer said. "We would need to see real proof" that Yucca managers are making workers comfortable in voicing concerns, she said.
Chu's letter outlines a number of other actions:
Elevating the project manager in Las Vegas to a deputy director to give the position more authority and improve accountability.
Improving the methods for resolving a number of "key technical issues" -- unanswered questions about how effectively Yucca will isolate radioactive waste. The Energy Department is attempting to answer the questions to the NRC's satisfaction, and Chu wrote that by June 30 the department will unveil a better approach to resolving those questions.
Improving procedure compliance. Project managers have identified cases in which formal data-handling procedures were not followed. Chu said the department intends to issue a "trend report" by Sept. 30 that will identify the causes of workers not following procedures.
Establishing a single "corrective actions" program in which deficiencies are fixed within 100 days on average.
Improving worker accountability for the quality, timeliness, effectiveness and safety of work.
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Las Vegas SUN
May 30, 2003
Energy Department. to hire new law firm
By Benjamin Grove
<grove@lasvegassun.com>
Las Vegas SUN
WASHINGTON -- A federal court has paved the way for the Energy Department to hire a law firm to handle its Yucca Mountain legal work, 18 months after its former firm quit amid conflict-of-interest allegations.
Chicago-based Winston & Strawn withdrew from its $16.5 million contract in November 2001 after it was revealed the firm had ties to the pro-Yucca nuclear industry, at a time when the department was supposed to be acting as an independent manager of the proposed nuclear waste repository project. The firm strongly denied any conflict, but resigned when the charges became a distraction.
Since March 2000 New York-based LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae has pressed a lawsuit against the Energy Department to obtain the contract, alleging that it was most ideally suited for the job. Then last month the department signaled that it was going to avoid the traditional bidding process to hire a new firm, using a loophole in federal law that allows the department to conduct a private search when special circumstances warrant.
LeBoeuf interpreted that as a method for the department to quietly avoid hiring LeBoeuf, and it filed an injunction to prevent the department from hiring another firm.
But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Wednesday denied the injunction, along with LeBoeuf's request that oral arguments begin before Sept. 16, when a hearing is scheduled, LeBoeuf attorney Mike McBride said today. The court ruling effectively paved the way for the department to hire a firm.
LeBoeuf plans to continue fighting to obtain the Yucca job and will ask the court to terminate any contract the department awards to another firm, McBride said.
Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis today said he didn't think the agency had a set deadline for hiring a new firm.
"But we are moving forward expeditiously," Davis wrote in an e-mail to the Sun.
The Energy Department needs a law firm to help it compile a complex application for a license to construct the waste repository at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The department is scrambling to meet a tight deadline of submitting the application by December 2004.
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Las Vegas Review Journal
May 30, 2003
DOE gets OK to award contract
Firm would help agency prepare Yucca license application
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A federal court has cleared the way for the Energy Department to hire a new law firm for the Yucca Mountain Project.
A New York firm's bid to block DOE from awarding a legal services contract was denied late Wednesday by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, attorneys confirmed.
With the obstacle removed, DOE could announce a multimillion-dollar award soon, since a 30-day congressional waiting period expires today.
DOE spokesman Joe Davis declined to say when the department would grant the contract. "We continue the process, and we are moving expeditiously," he said.
The selected firm would help DOE prepare its license application for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It also would represent the department in license hearings before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Department officials had estimated contract value at between $17 and $21 million through 2007, when the NRC could complete its repository evaluations.
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, a New York-based firm, sought an injunction to block DOE from hiring anyone else for the job. The firm is already embroiled in a court dispute with the Energy Department after being passed over for a Yucca Mountain legal contract in 1999.
The firm that won that job, Chicago-based Winston and Strawn, departed in November 2001 amidst conflict allegations.
Michael McBride, a LeBoeuf, Lamb partner, said Thursday his firm will continue to pursue its already filed lawsuit against the government. Oral arguments are scheduled Sept. 16.
"Our legal position is that we are entitled to the work," McBride said. "We are going to put DOE on notice we intend to continue to pursue the case until it is decided on the merits."
The legal services contract also has drawn comment from critics of the Yucca Mountain Project because DOE has chosen to bypass the government's customary formal bidding process in selecting a winner.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
May 30, 2003
Editorial: No surprise in job culture cited by Yucca witnesses
State representatives and activists in Nevada and in Washington already were on the alert before prospective witnesses reneged on promises to appear at a U.S. Senate hearing on Yucca Mountain. That came from years of dealing with the federal government over plans to turn the mountain into a nuclear waste dump.
This latest chapter in the Yucca Mountain saga, however, is not surprising. Energy Department officials are under tremendous pressure to complete this project. So, two of the five whistleblowers, fearing they would lose their jobs, said they would not testify about problems they found at the site. And, apparently, the three witnesses who did speak at Wednesday´s hearing contributed little that wasn´t already on the record.
Besides the obvious safety concerns, they pointed to a list of errors and technical shortcomings they say have been problems over 15 years of working on the project. Unfortunately, this administration is determined to do anything it can to block opposition and go ahead with the nuclear repository. So, again, there´s no reason to be surprised that quality assurance inspectors, auditors and others work in what Sen. John Ensign called a “culture of retaliation’ and intimidation. For their part, Energy Department officials continue to defend the project, and, in their zeal, they present experts who say the science is sound and Yucca Mountain is a viable storage place.
It continues to be a lonely uphill battle for Nevada lawmakers protesting the project, but the cause is a good one.
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Reno Gazette-Journal
May 29, 2003
Three Nevada counties accused of misusing Yucca Mountain funds
Three Nevada counties misspent $3.3 million in federal money that was intended for monitoring the government's bid to bury nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, inspectors said.
Auditors for the Energy Department's inspector general concluded in a report released in Washington, D.C., that money was improperly spent on lobbying, lawsuit research, and other activities not allowed for local governments that are given funds to oversee the Yucca Mountain project.
The examiners challenged expenditures, including payments to consultants on unrelated projects.
A 14-page audit sent Wednesday to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham challenged $2.08 million in Nye County spending for 2001 and 2002; $1.13 million spent by Lincoln County; and $132,296 spent by Clark County.
Penalties could force rural Lincoln and Nye counties to shut down projects that measure the effect the proposed nuclear waste repository will have on residents, officials said.
"If they want their money back that they've given us, unless the county funds us out of general funds, we'd shut the doors,"said Les Bradshaw, Nye County director of natural resources and federal facilities.
Officials from the counties defended their spending and said they plan to protest.
"We went through to link every expenditure over the two years to one of the allowable uses,"said Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips of Lincoln County.
Irene Navis, head of the Clark County nuclear waste planning division, said auditors disregarded explanations for charges they disallowed.
"There are some inaccuracies in this report,"she said.
The Energy Department plans by the end of 2004 to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an application to operate the nuclear repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Plans call for entombing 77,000 tons of commercial, industrial and military waste at the site. Project planners say it will remain radioactive for 10,000 years.
Energy Department managers will decide what expenses to disallow and whether the counties will be required to make reimbursements or have future payments reduced. DOE-county meetings are set for next month.
Nine Nevada counties and Inyo County in California have received Yucca Mountain payments for 15 years, dividing $12 million in 2001 and 2002. Congress last year directed DOE to examine how they were spending the money.
Anticipating audit results, DOE already has withheld $1 million from Nye County and $400,000 from Lincoln County, about half of what each projected to receive this year for Yucca Mountain oversight.
Navis said $132,296 has been withheld from Clark County, a small part of its $1.8 million allocation this year.
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State of Nevada
Agency for Nuclear Projects
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/
nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us
775-687-3744
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