Yucca Mountain News Clips
Tuesday, December 7, 2004
---------------------------
Las Vegas SUN
December 07, 2004
Panel says shipping plan lagging for Yucca Mountain project
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) - An independent review panel is raising questions about whether the Energy Department will cut corners on safety in plans to ship thousands of tons of nuclear waste to a proposed national nuclear waste dump in Nevada.
The government has yet to develop "a safe, secure and efficient transportation system" for nuclear waste transport to Yucca Mountain, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board said in a three-page letter to the Energy Department.
"We're looking at the letter," Energy Department and Yucca Mountain spokesman Allen Benson said Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Yucca managers say shipping will be done safely, but say transportation planning has been underfunded while they concentrate on repository design and a license application.
The independent panel, based in Washington, D.C., said it feared budget constraints or a rush to meet deadlines might compromise safety in plans to move 77,000 tons of the nation's most radioactive material across 44 states to Nevada later this decade.
The department has yet to decide matters of cask design, truck and rail acquisition and waste handling "to ensure that the transportation system will operate successfully," the board said.
The panel also said the Energy Department should focus more on a backup plan to ship waste through Nevada by truck if a proposed cross-state railroad line cannot be built in time.
The department has proposed building a 319-mile rail route to ship waste from a railhead at Caliente, 150 miles northeast of Las Vegas, to the Yucca Mountain repository, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The Energy Department announced last month that it would miss a self-imposed Dec. 31 deadline to submit a Yucca Mountain license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
With license review expected to take up to four years, the department has not said whether postponing its license application will push back its plan to open the Yucca Mountain repository in 2010.
Bob Halstead, a transportation consultant hired by the state of Nevada, which opposes the Yucca plan, said officials in states across which waste would travel are trying to gauge the Energy Department's shipping program.
States are particularly concerned whether DOE will have enough money to help them with emergency planning and how that money will be distributed, Halstead said.
Jack Edlow, president of Edlow International Company, a waste shipping firm, characterized the technical board letter as a road map for the Energy Department to follow.
Planning "is not behind yet, but they need to begin the process next year, and with a funding stream, I believe they will be able to do that," said Edlow, who heads the U.S. Transport Council, a coalition of nuclear waste shipping concerns.
The Technical Review Board was created by Congress to evaluate the Yucca Mountain program. It meets several times a year to explore project segments and report its conclusions to federal lawmakers and the Energy Department.
---
On the Net:
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board: http://www.nwtrb.gov
Yucca Mountain project: http://www.ymp.gov
U.S. Transport Council: http://www.ustransportcouncil.org
Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects: http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste
---
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
---------------------------
Las Vegas SUN
December 07, 2004
Panel: Yucca transportation plan flawed
Congressionally appointed watchdog group concerned about schedule, budget setbacks
By Benjamin Grove
<grove@lasvegassun.com>
Sun Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department lacks a "detailed strategic plan" for transporting nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, a congressionally appointed Yucca watchdog group said.
For example, the department needs more focus on how waste would be shipped on rail or roads inside Nevada once it is hauled to the state from nuclear sites nationwide, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board said.
In a Dec. 1 letter to Energy Department Yucca chief Margaret Chu, the panel wrote that the department has no "overarching implementation organization" to develop a safe and efficient waste shipping program.
"It is important for the DOE (Energy Department) to develop specific logistical plans that identify the entity that is responsible for each system component and the key interactions required of each involved entity," the board wrote.
An Energy Department spokesman was not available for comment this morning.
The department has begun organizing itself to plan for a massive shipping campaign for the federal plan to construct a national high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The plan calls for shipments of up to 77,000 tons of radioactive material made over several decades by road and rail from the nation's active and closed nuclear power plants and U.S. defense waste sites.
Critics say the plan invites the risk of accidents and terrorist attack.
But industry leaders say both scenarios are highly unlikely. They point to a long safety record. The nuclear energy industry has made 3,000 shipments of used nuclear fuel since 1964, and no fuel has leaked, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, a top industry lobby group.
There is plenty of time to begin transportation planning and to do it right, said Jack Edlow, president of Edlow International Co., a waste shipping company.
The Energy Department is well aware of all the steps it needs to take, said Edlow, leader of the U.S. Transport Council, established in April 2002 to better represent waste shippers in Washington. The board's letter didn't reveal anything new, Edlow said.
"The department can now begin the process of putting in place all they pieces they need," Edlow said. "The timing becomes tighter the longer you wait. They need to begin now. But I wouldn't say they are behind."
Still, the board, established by Congress in 1987 to conduct independent analysis of the Yucca plan, is concerned that schedule and budget setbacks could "compromise" transportation planning.
Yucca has long been plagued by delays, some created by budget cuts that are orchestrated in part by incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a member of the Appropriations Committee.
The board is concerned that the department could "overlook" technical transportation issues in a rush to meet a self-imposed 2010 project opening deadline, according to the letter.
The board said the department's approach to assessing security risks to waste shipments is "appropriate," but has a few flaws.
For instance, tribal groups may not be represented as the department is deliberating routes, the board said. And the board cautioned the department to handle waste route planning with state and regional governments "carefully and diligently."
The department needs to better identify the technical issues involved in selecting routes and apply "sound methods" to address the issues, the board said.
The board also noted that the Energy Department needs to do a better job of communicating its transportation plan -- and the perceived risks -- to the public.
---------------------------
Las Vegas Review-Journal
December 07, 2004
YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT: Board raises questions about shipping plans
DOE's progress comes under fire
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A Yucca Mountain review board has raised questions about the Energy Department's progress in planning to ship thousands of tons of nuclear waste to a proposed Nevada repository.
With the department still clinging to a goal of opening a burial site in 2010, it has yet to put in place a comprehensive organization "that can develop a safe, secure and efficient transportation system," according to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
The panel said it feared that budget constraints or a rush to meet deadlines may compromise safety planning as the department organizes to move 77,000 tons of highly radioactive material across 44 states to Nevada later this decade.
Judging from presentations so far, DOE has yet to pull together complex matters of cask design, truck and rail acquisition and waste onloading and offloading "to ensure that the transportation system will operate successfully," the board said in a three-page letter sent Wednesday to the Energy Department.
A board member was not available for interview on Monday, but a staff adviser said the letter was written before the Energy Department announced on Nov. 22 that a Yucca license application will be delayed into 2005. A growing number of industry officials and scientists believe the DOE goal of having a repository open by 2010 will slide as well.
"It's fair to say the board is concerned given the 2010 schedule that there is an awful lot to do, but if the schedule is relaxed, the board would be less concerned," the adviser said. "The important thing is to do it and do it right."
DOE officials will review the letter before commenting on it, spokesman Allen Benson said. Yucca managers have acknowledged the transportation planning has been underfunded to this point as they concentrate on preparing a repository design and a license application.
Bob Halstead, a transportation consultant hired by the state of Nevada, said the board's views echo concerns of officials in a number of states who are trying to gauge how DOE will shape its shipping program.
States are particularly concerned whether DOE will have enough money to help them with emergency planning and how that money will be distributed, Halstead said.
Talking about nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain "is like talking about the Iraqi elections," Halstead said. "Everybody hopes they will be successful, but anybody who is an objective observer has to be filled with trepidation."
Jack Edlow, president of Edlow International Company, a waste shipping firm, said the technical board laid out a road map for DOE to follow.
"I must say nothing jumped out at me that seems to be a showstopper or anything that is not already being contemplated," said Edlow, who heads the U.S. Transport Council, a coalition of nuclear waste shipping concerns.
On transportation planning, DOE "is not behind yet, but they need to begin the process next year, and with a funding stream, I believe they will be able to do that," Edlow said. "They need to involve the private sector more."
The technical review board is an independent body created by Congress to evaluate the Yucca program. It meets several times a year to explore project segments, reporting its conclusions to federal lawmakers and the Energy Department.
Among its recommendations, the panel said DOE should focus more attention on a backup plan to ship waste through Nevada by truck in case a repository railroad line cannot be built in time.
---------------------------
Las Vegas Review-Journal
December 03, 2004
YUCCA INCENTIVE: Deadline passes; bonus in limbo
Contractor probably will receive portion of award despite delay
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is evaluating whether a major Yucca Mountain contractor should be paid part of a $15.3 million incentive fee even though the nuclear waste project is being delayed, department officials said.
Bechtel SAIC Co. LLC, the repository management firm, did not meet a Nov. 30 deadline in its contract to hand in a completed license application for the Nevada radioactive waste repository, a DOE spokesman confirmed.
The announcement came as little surprise since DOE disclosed last week that Yucca Mountain licensing would be delayed into 2005.
Bechtel SAIC, working under a $1.8 billion contract signed in November 2000, would have qualified for a $15.3 million "performance-based incentive" if it met the Nov. 30 deadline and performed work to completeness and quality standards.
DOE officials now are examining the company's contract to determine whether Bechtel should be paid any part of the incentive despite the delays.
John Arthur, Yucca Mountain deputy director, said last week that some of the causes of delay were not the company's fault. U.S. Court of Appeals judges in July threw out a radiation safety regulation that might require the repository to be redesigned.
Bechtel SAIC "will get paid -- it is just how much and in what time frame," Arthur said. The company employs 1,400 people in Southern Nevada.
But others say the project also was being slowed by flaws in supporting documents for the 5,000-page license application.
Energy Department spokesman Allen Benson said this week officials continue to review the award fee, and some determination would be made soon.
DOE officials conducting the contract review are focusing in part on work Bechtel SAIC performed to produce a "modified draft" of the license application, a source said. The draft was given to the Energy Department early in November, and might provide a basis for some compensation.
A spokeswoman for Bechtel SAIC referred questions to the Energy Department.
The possibility of a Bechtel SAIC payment drew fresh criticism from Yucca Mountain opponents.
Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said a repository license application shouldn't be considered complete until the Environmental Protection Agency resolves the court's ruling this summer on the radiation standards.
"They can't hand in anything that is close to a final license application until there is a standard," Loux said. "Anything other than that is just a sweetheart deal."
Bechtel SAIC gave the Energy Department an initial draft application by a contract deadline of July 26, qualifying for an $11 million award.
---------------------------
The Coloradoan
December 07, 2004
Campbell decries partisanship
Senate losing champion of Indian causes
By Faith Bremner
WASHINGTON -- The Senate will lose its only American Indian member, and Colorado will lose one of its more colorful politicians when Ben Nighthorse Campbell retires this month.
The Harley-Davidson riding, pony-tailed Democrat-turned-Republican who once appeared on the Senate floor wearing buckskins and a feather bonnet said his biggest frustration as he leaves office is the increasing partisanship that has made it harder for moderates like himself to find a middle ground.
"It looks to me like America little by little is becoming balkanized, and that's really dangerous," Campbell said as he took a break from packing up his office after 18 years in Washington. "People put either their religious views or tribal views ahead of the national fabric."
He blames the increasingly bitter partisanship on what he calls "100 percenters" -- groups such as environmentalists, evangelical Christians and gun rights advocates who have strong, black-or-white positions.
"What that means is if you're not with them 100 percent of the time, they trash you," Campbell said. "There's no middle ground."
Some days, he won praise from environmentalists, like when he was one of only three Republicans to vote against Yucca Mountain, Nev., the nation's nuclear waste dump.
Other days, he infuriated them, like when he wrote legislation that created the $500 million Animas-La Plata water project in southwest Colorado. Conservationists consider it a waste of money and water.
"His record is mixed, but primarily Senator Campbell was not the champion of the environment that a lot of his constituents hoped he would be," said Pete Kolbenschlag, Western Slope field director for the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
Had Campbell sought a third term, he probably would have faced the evangelicals' wrath. He was one of only six Republicans to vote against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage sponsored by Colorado's junior Republican senator, Wayne Allard, and Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who represents Larimer County.
Campbell, a Catholic who personally opposes same-sex marriage, supported a federal law in 1996 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. But Campbell said he voted against the amendment because it would have written discrimination into the Constitution.
Campbell's abiding passion during his career in the House and the Senate has been his support of Indian issues. Campbell is one of 44 chiefs of Montana's Northern Cheyenne Nation.
In 1997, he became the first Indian ever to chair the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over all federal Indian programs. Campbell used this platform to strengthen tribes' authority over their lands and people, to help tribes diversify their economies, bring more non-Indian businesses onto their reservations and improve education for Indian children.
"Every native person thought he was our private senator," said Suzan Shown Harjo, a Cheyenne and president of the Morning Star Institute, a group that lobbies to protect property rights and religious freedom for Indians.
Campbell said he's most proud of his work to establish the $219 million National Museum of the American Indian. Campbell spoke at the opening ceremony in his buckskins and a feather bonnet and then went back to work on the Senate floor with permission to break the suit-and-tie rule.
"That was a big, important one for me," Campbell said of the museum, which was 15 years in the making. "I shouldn't say 'me' because it's staff that does all the work.
"I never give them enough credit."
Two former staffers, however, made Campbell's life difficult earlier this year when one of them alleged he had been forced to kick back $2,000 of a raise to Campbell's former chief of staff.
Campbell said he asked for the Senate ethics committee to investigate, and the committee turned the matter over to the Justice Department. Campbell said he has not talked to anyone from the Justice Department and has no idea how the investigation is going.
"I've been told they might not get it done for six months to a year after I'm out," he said.
---------------------------
State of Nevada
Agency for Nuclear Projects
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/
nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us
775-687-3744
---------------------------