Yucca Mountain News Clips
Monday, December 13, 2004
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Las Vegas SUN
December 13, 2004
Letter: Shipping plans deserve praise
Your Dec. 7 article headlined, "Panel: Yucca transportation plan flawed," emphasized some of the points raised by the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board in a recent letter to Energy Department managers of the Yucca Mountain repository project.
Neither the meeting of the board held in Salt Lake City, to which the letter refers, or the letter itself was as negative as your article infers.
I was at the meeting and it appeared to me that the board was generally pleased with what was discussed and, yes, they were "concerned" with budget and schedules, as are many within and outside the federal government.
For balance, you might also have quoted this from the letter: "The board commends the Energy Department on its effort in developing a systematic approach to transportation planning."
A lot of detailed transportation planning remains to be done, but as the president of a waste shipping company pointed out in your article, there is time to get those things done and it appears that the Energy Department recognizes the value in coordinating their planning with states and other stakeholders.
Brian O'Connell
Editor's note: Brian O'Connell directs the Nuclear Waste Program Office of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a group that has supported the Yucca Mountain project.
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Seattle Times
December 13, 2004
Fate of Hanford nuclear waste in flux
By Alex Fryer
Seattle Times Washington bureau
A major shift of political power on Capitol Hill has thrown into doubt the schedule for removing high-level nuclear waste from the Hanford nuclear reservation.
About 30,000 tons of high-level waste from Hanford are to be buried in Nevada at Yucca Mountain, which federal officials hope to open in 2010. Waste stored there would be radioactive for 10,000 years.
Nevada's senior senator, Democrat Harry Reid, a staunch opponent of the proposed nuclear repository, became Senate Democratic leader last month, replacing Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who lost his bid for re-election.
Reid's ascent puts him in a far better position to stall or possibly kill the Yucca Mountain Project, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
With Yucca Mountain's future uncertain, the final resting place for Hanford waste becomes a revolving target.
Although there is general agreement that nuclear-waste cleanup is a good thing, recent developments underscore the lack of consensus on where nuclear waste should ultimately be stored, and how it should get there.
At first glance, there may seem little connection between Hanford — considered the worst environmental mess in the Western Hemisphere — and Daschle's defeat on Nov. 2.
But U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, whose district includes Hanford, said he made the connection as soon as the polls closed on election night.
Daschle's loss meant the minority-leader position was suddenly vacant. Reid, who was Daschle's second in command, became the instant front-runner. He was elected minority leader by fellow Democrats on Nov. 16.
Reid's rise and future opposition to Yucca Mountain could impact waste scheduled to be shipped out of Hanford.
"That was one of the first things I thought about when Daschle lost," Hastings said.
According to Hastings, opening Yucca Mountain as a nuclear-waste dump is a done deal. If Reid wants to tinker with the process, he does so at his own political peril.
No signs of letting up
High-level waste at Hanford is scheduled to be mixed with glass — a process called "vitrification" — and made into logs 14 feet long and 2 feet in diameter.
Nine thousand such logs are set to be transported to Yucca Mountain between 2013 and 2028.
Planners don't know whether the logs will be shipped by truck or train. In addition to opposing Yucca Mountain, the state of Nevada is against a proposed 320-mile rail extension to the site.
"To be sure, Harry Reid has more political clout by being named minority leader," Hastings said. "He will have to spend a lot of political capital if he wants to make this his No. 1 issue. He has lists of senators on his side who want Yucca Mountain open."
But Reid has shown no signs of letting up.
On Nov. 21, Reid announced his longtime aide on nuclear issues had been appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will make a final decision on whether to issue final permits for Yucca Mountain.
Reid has argued that scientific studies of Yucca Mountain are incomplete.
"I wouldn't say Yucca Mountain is a foregone conclusion," said Mike Wilson, nuclear-waste manager for the Washington state Department of Ecology. "We're in a wait-and-see posture."
However, the leader of a Hanford watchdog group says he is unconcerned about the future of Yucca Mountain.
Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, said he supports Reid's advancement because he agrees with the senator's position that states should have greater control over nuclear waste.
If Reid torpedoes Yucca Mountain, treated high-level waste would be safe at Hanford, Pollet said.
"I believe if Yucca Mountain is not safe, it shouldn't be open," Pollet said. "Glassified, high-level waste should stay at Hanford. That's the safest thing."
There is little agreement about Yucca Mountain within Washington state's congressional delegation.
In a 2002 vote, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray voted for a resolution approving Yucca Mountain as a national nuclear-waste repository. Seven House members from Washington state also supported the measure.
The state's other senator, Democrat Maria Cantwell, voted against the Yucca Mountain resolution. At the time, Cantwell said there wouldn't be enough room in Yucca Mountain to handle Hanford's waste. She was joined by House Democrats Jim McDermott of Seattle and Adam Smith of Tacoma.
Raising other questions
Uncertainty over Yucca Mountain raises other questions.
Government planners say they need definitive answers to begin plotting transportation routes from Hanford and other sites to a national repository.
There has been no decision on whether the material will travel by truck or train. Either way, most observers agree an accident would be a national catastrophe.
"This is all a crapshoot, and no one knows," said Tim Holeman, nuclear-waste manager at the Western Interstate Energy Board, a group of 12 Western states and three Canadian provinces charged with developing a system to transport radioactive materials.
"I can't tell you how Harry Reid's appointment would influence this matter. All I can tell you is there is a little more uncertainty," he said. "We have to plan for transportation now. We can't wait for the politicians to tell us."
With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expected to hold hearings on Yucca Mountain next year, state environmental officials say they will pay close attention to what happens in the other Washington.
"Everything is still in flux right now," said Wilson, of the state Ecology Department. "Everybody is in a wait-and-see mode."
Alex Fryer: 206-464-8124 or afryer@seattletimes.com
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North County Times
December 12, 2004
Shutter the nuclear nightmare on I-5
Russell D. Hoffman
For the North County Times
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station should be shut down permanently. It is brittle, frail, old. Its bones are hardened. Its arteries are clogged and stiff. It keeps popping and poofing, bursting and spilling, leaking, spraying, steaming, venting, dripping, gushing, pouring out poisons into our environment.
The tritium alone released from the nuclear power plant is a serious environmental concern. Tritium (half-life: about 12 years) is readily absorbed by all parts of the human body. It does occur naturally, but that is no good reason to increase the dose to people.
In normal daily operation, the facility also releases cesium-137, strontium-90, uranium, plutonium (both in a variety of isotopes) and hundreds of other radioactive "daughter products" created by the nuclear chain reaction. Although the plant owners say these legal releases are harmless, many insidious mechanisms for biological damage by radioactivity are now well-known in the scientific community and undeniable to any unbiased observer.
In fact, no energy source is as damaging to our biological structure as ionizing radiation. One atomic decay inside your body can directly destroy 20,000 or more chemical bonds, including those that bind your DNA. A single damaged DNA strand can lead to fetal deformities or cancer.
Radiation accelerates aging (including in humans). Additionally, salty air and water destroy most metals.
Right now, San Onofre's steam generators are failing and need to be replaced (as do Diablo Canyon's). Cost: at least $680 million for San Onofre, and at least $706 million for Diablo Canyon.
San Onofre's water heaters also all need to be replaced (about 30 per unit). Cost: an additional $7 million for each plant, plus $30 million or so for the "downtime." Pipes and joints at the plant have been cracking, and undoubtedly many need to be replaced ---- there are about 100 miles of pipes at the site. Last August, a pipe accident at a 27-year-old nuclear plant in Japan killed five workers. The pipe had eroded to 10 percent of its original thickness.
In 2002, more than 700 pounds of unnoticed corrosion at Davis-Besse, a nuke plant in Ohio similar to San Onofre, brought us, in some ways, nearer to a full-scale meltdown than Three Mile Island did.
Replacing San Onofre's pipes, and maybe her reactor pressure vessels ---- both now more than two decades old ---- could cost ratepayers billions of dollars. Failure to replace critical parts could result in a meltdown.
Old breakers and transformers have exploded and burned, causing outages costing more than $140 million. But the 150 or so identical breakers were not replaced. That's tens of millions of dollars more work that should be added to the list.
Everything at the facility is suspect ---- including the record-keeping. The power plant is practically immune from state and local inspections, even in areas the Nuclear Regulatory Commission won't inspect because they are not "nuclear" areas!
Even if all these (and many more) problems were fixed, nuclear power does not actually generate any "net" energy whatsoever, because of the incredibly energy-intensive processes needed to mine and refine uranium into fuel, as well as construction costs, reconstruction costs, and dismantling costs. Add to that the cost of guarding the hazardous radioactive waste for thousands of generations. Additional funds could also be needed to care for the sick and dying that would result from a serious nuclear accident.
Besides being a financial rat-hole, nuclear power plants are terrorist targets. Dry casks are especially vulnerable, but dry cask storage could be stopped at San Onofre if we shut the facility permanently now.
San Onofre makes money only for its owners, who are practically given uranium fuel by the federal government, which also promises to take it away after it has been turned into radioactive waste (at great profit) by Southern California Edison. Yucca Mountain shouldn't open, probably never will, and if it does, it's more than a decade away at best and will take about 25 years to fill. Meanwhile, new waste accumulates at the rate of 500 pounds every day at the plant; that waste may not fit at Yucca Mountain ---- it may need to wait for Yucca Mountain II! An operating nuclear plant is thousands of times more vulnerable to terrorism, forces of nature, design flaws or operator error than one that is shut down. A terrorist with an armor-plated bulldozer packed into a jacked-up house trailer and off-loaded at the state park could ruin San Onofre in minutes and take Southern California with it.
If properly harvested, the sun provides all the energy we need, through wind, wave, hydro, biomass, and by direct solar power. Currently, the vast majority of that nearly-free energy spills into the biosphere, becomes disorganized, and is wasted.
San Onofre's power is replaceable. Our land and our lives are not.
Carlsbad resident Russell D. Hoffman is an independent researcher on energy solutions, a computer programmer, and a small-business owner. He has studied nuclear issues for more than 30 years and writes a newsletter that is distributed to nuclear physicists, doctors and activists in more than a dozen countries.
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WAVY
December 12, 2004
Dominion's Surry Station Likely To Get Fuel Storage Permit
Associated Press
Dominion Resources Inc.'s Surry Power Station will likely become the first nuclear facility in the nation to have its license extended for on-site storage of spent nuclear fuel in large steel containers.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently gave preliminary approval to the renewal of Surry's 20-year license to store nuclear waste for another 40 years rather than the current maximum of 20 years. The agency is also considering permanently changing its rules to 40 years -- reflecting the long delay in opening the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada.
The agency said it also has strong faith in the steel storage units. "It was really the confidence in the casks," said Dave McIntyre, a spokesman for the NRC.
The NRC noted that when it first started giving 20-year licenses, the government expected Yucca to open in 1998. Yucca now is projected to open around 2010 and will take deliveries of waste through 2048.
The allocated space in Yucca is only enough to dispose of the amount of waste that will exist at the nation's 103 reactors when the repository opens in 2011. But much more waste will continue to be generated at the Virginia reactors and others nationwide beyond 2011.
Both of the Dominion Resources-owned nuclear sites in Virginia -- Surry and North Anna in Mineral -- already have licenses to run an extra 20 years. The Surry reactors will run until 2033, which is 13 years before the storage license will expire.
It made sense to extend the storage license beyond the life of the reactors to give time for the last rods to cool for five years and then get shipped to Yucca, said Rick Zuercher, a Dominion spokesman. "The issues don't change from 20 years to 40 years in terms of safety," he said.
NRC officials now will negotiate inspection and maintenance requirements of the storage area. Surry's extension, which will allow Dominion to use the dry casks for storage until 2046, will be permanent once the NRC issues the final license with the inspection conditions.
The pending approval comes shortly after an environmental group said that, based on current license renewals at nuclear plants, Virginia will have the second most leftover waste in the nation at its two sites after Yucca is full.
Some environmental and anti-nuclear groups challenge the safety of Dominion's outdoor storage. The activists have criticized the government and industry for failing to find adequate space for a permanent home for all the waste that is being created daily.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
December 11, 2004
Bush pulls surprise with Energy Department choice
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday nominated Samuel Bodman as a surprise pick to head the Department of Energy.
Bodman, 66, a former corporate chieftain who has worked as the chief operating officer of two government agencies, is not well-known within most industries that would be affected by his decisions at the Energy Department involving oil and gas exploration, electricity generation, renewable fuels research, nuclear power, nuclear waste cleanup and disposal and management of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.
Bodman, a Chicago native, built a varied resume as a college professor and a corporate leader before joining the government in 2001. He was confirmed as deputy secretary -- the No. 2 position -- at the Commerce Department, and currently holds a similar post at the Treasury Department.
The nominee also was largely unfamiliar to Nevada leaders and interest groups who monitor Energy Department projects, including the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and the DOE-operated Nevada Test Site.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying that he spoke with Bodman on Friday and referenced opposition in the state to the Yucca project.
"I stressed to Dr. Bodman that, while I understand he serves at the pleasure of a president who supports the project, I hoped he would take a fresh look at alternatives to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain," Reid said. "He agreed to do so."
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said he hoped that Bodman, a chemical engineer, would support more investment in nuclear waste transmutation and reprocessing, technologies that could reduce the volume of radioactive spent fuel and possibly relieve pressure to complete a Nevada repository.
"In addition, my colleagues and I will continue to work with the new secretary and President Bush on creating a comprehensive energy policy that once and for all will allow our nation to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy," Gibbons said in a prepared statement.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she expects little change. "It's completely irrelevant who the administration nominates for any of these Cabinet positions, including energy secretary," she said. "They are interested in appointing rubber stamps who will carry out policy, and the policy is to build a (nuclear waste) repository in Nevada."
But Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said he would not rule out Bodman making any changes to the Yucca Mountain Project, which faces critical funding and licensing challenges in Bush's second term.
Besides pursuing nuclear waste disposal, the Energy Department also manages the test site, which hosts segments of the nuclear weapons stockpile program, stores low-level nuclear waste material and conducts counterterrorism training for federal and community first responders.
The department also supports research into renewable energy technologies, which industry officials say benefits companies looking to exploit Nevada geothermal, solar and wind resources.
There is little in Bodman's resume to indicate how he might approach nuclear weapons matters, said Christopher Simon, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
But Simon said Bodman's background in the chemical industry suggests he might not be enthusiastic supporter of alternative energy.
"He's a chemical guy, and I don't see him coming out and saying we have to try a different approach and move forward," Simon said.
Bodman "is someone who has worked in the trenches and someone Bush is comfortable with who won't necessarily challenge the prevailing view," Simon said.
Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association, said Bodman might surprise people on renewable energy. He said the chemical industry has been a surprisingly strong advocate for alternative fuels.
"They would rather see renewables used for electricity and use natural gas for other purposes," Gawell said.
In announcing Bodman as his pick, Bush said the nominee's management skills and scientific background made him suitable to the job.
"Sam Bodman has shown himself to be a problem solver who knows how to set goals, and he knows how to reach them," Bush said at the White House. "He will bring to the Department of Energy a great talent for management and the precise thinking of an engineer."
People who have worked with Bodman in Washington have described him as an agile administrator, skillful at getting people to work together and fostering a team spirit.
Bodman was recommended for the energy job by Don Evans, the outgoing Commerce secretary and a close Bush friend.
Before being recruited to serve in the Bush administration, Bodman was chairman and chief executive officer at Cabot Corp., a Boston-based Fortune 300 specialty chemical firm with manufacturing plants in 25 countries.
He taught chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, leaving in 1970 to join Fidelity Investments, where he became its president and helped build it into a global financial services firm. He joined Cabot Corp. in 1987.
Bodman said his background would fit the Energy Department. "Each of these activities dealt with the financial markets and the impact of energy and technology on those markets," he said.
Bodman will face Senate confirmation hearings early next year. The chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., praised the nominee.
The committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said Bodman "will bring very strong credentials to the Department of Energy."
The comment suggested that Democrats might not oppose his confirmation.
Stephens Washington Bureau writer Samantha Young and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Los Angeles Times
December 11, 2004
Bush Names Treasury's No. 2 to Head Energy
Edwin Chen and Warren Vieth
Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday nominated Samuel Bodman, a former MIT chemistry professor and business executive who has held senior positions in both the Commerce and Treasury departments, to become the nation's next secretary of Energy.
Bodman, who has been serving as second-in-command at the Treasury Department, is considered a seasoned government administrator with deep knowledge of the technical and economic aspects of energy issues. He would replace Spencer Abraham.
But Bodman would face daunting challenges as Energy secretary, including a renewed push for Bush's controversial national energy plan, looming decisions on nuclear waste disposal and possible political challenges from within the administration.
Moreover, at a time of volatile oil prices, a declining dollar and rising federal deficits, energy is a highly charged element of overall economic policy.
"It will be part of fixing the U.S. economic problem," said Philip K. Verleger Jr., a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics and a former Treasury official. "We have a weak dollar. We have a zero savings rate. There is a real risk of an economic meltdown. With a weaker dollar, oil prices could go way up."
Verleger praised Bodman, saying, "For once we'll have a secretary of Energy who actually knows a good deal about the subject and will be pretty well plugged in."
In making the appointment, Bush vowed to renew his campaign to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign energy supplies and urged Congress to enact his energy plan, which has been stalled in part because it would allow drilling in parcels of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"I am optimistic about the task ahead, and I know Sam Bodman is the right man to lead this important and vital agency," the president said during a brief White House ceremony.
Independent analysts said one of the biggest challenges facing Bodman would be making his presence felt in an administration in which energy policy had been largely dictated by two veteran oilmen: Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"There's a feeling in the industry that no matter who is at Energy, the really important decisions are made in the vice president's office," said Rick Mueller, senior oil analyst at Energy Security Analysis Inc., a Boston-based consulting firm. "Cheney definitely has hands-on experience in the oil patch and perceives himself as the administration's energy guy."
If confirmed by the Senate, Bodman would take the helm amid turmoil in global oil markets. Prices rose to record levels earlier this year as producers strained to keep up with rising demand and traders tacked on a "fear premium" to reflect the threat to oil supplies posed by the Iraq war, the risk of terrorist attacks and other possible disruptions.
"He's got to be able to deal with rising prices, rising dependence on energy exports and the whole issue of energy security," said Anthony Cordesman, an energy specialist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "In the real world, energy is an international issue."
Bodman would take over a department that also is responsible for securing the nation's nuclear facilities, encouraging conservation, reducing the risk of global nuclear proliferation and upgrading the country's energy infrastructure.
Bodman also may become the administration's point man in lobbying Congress on the Bush energy blueprint — a task that would test his political skills. On certain aspects of energy policy, some lawmakers are divided along regional lines rather than party lines.
One dispute is over whether new energy legislation should include legal protections for manufacturers of a gasoline additive that has been blamed for polluting water supplies.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), whose home state has produced the additive, has insisted on the provision. But some Republicans from states contaminated by the additive have objected, complaining it could force their taxpayers to pick up the tab for the cleanup.
Bodman also faces the task of completing plans to open a long-term storage facility for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Another potential headache would be choosing a contractor to run Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nuclear weapons design lab managed for more than 60 years by the University of California.
UC's Los Alamos contract expires in September. Last year, after the disclosure of management lapses at the lab, the Energy Department said it would open the contract to competition for the first time.
Congress later ordered that other national lab contracts, including Lawrence Livermore, also managed by UC, be put up for bid.
Bodman, 66, grew up in rural Illinois but spent most of his adult life in Boston, first as a chemical engineering student and then as a professor at the MIT. He left MIT in 1970 to join a fledgling investment firm, Fidelity Investments, and spent 17 years there, the last 10 as its president. Fidelity now is one of the nation's largest financial services firms.
He next spent 15 years as chairman and chief executive of Cabot Corp., a specialty chemical manufacturer in Boston. He moved to Washington nearly four years ago to become deputy secretary of Commerce, a department headed by Don Evans, one of the president's closest friends.
In February, Bodman moved to the Treasury Department, also as the deputy secretary.
At both Commerce and Treasury, Bodman largely supervised the day-to-day operations.
Bodman said the Energy secretary post "in many ways, combines all aspects of my life's professional work" in that each job "dealt with the financial markets and the impact of energy and technology on those markets."
He vowed to help the president "ensure a steady supply of affordable energy for America's homes and businesses, and to work toward the day when America achieves energy independence."
If confirmed, Bodman would replace Abraham, a former U.S. senator from Michigan, who was the 10th and longest-serving Energy secretary.
Bodman's nomination was hailed by key GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He said Bodman "understands the critical role of science, research and advanced technologies will play in meeting our energy challenges."
With Bodman's nomination, the president has two more Cabinet positions to fill — at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.
- Times staff writers Richard Simon in Washington and Rebecca Trounson in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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Salt Lake Tribune
December 11, 2004
N-dump consortium contends storage would not be permanent
Skull Valley: The state contends the hot waste would not be accepted later at Yucca Mountain
By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune
There is no reason the federal Energy Department couldn't take spent nuclear fuel from the Private Fuel Storage facility proposed for the Skull Valley Goshute reservation, the nuclear power consortium argued in response to Utah's latest attempt to scuttle the facility's license application.
The state is attempting to reopen hearings before the federal Atomic Safety Licensing Board and has asked the board to consider evidence that spent fuel stored at PFS, supposedly only temporarily, wouldn't be accepted at the planned Yucca Mountain waste repository.
But PFS lawyer Jay Silberg said this week the state has failed to make its case.
"Yucca Mountain is designed to take exactly the kind of fuel the state alleges it won't take," he said.
The state in a "late contention" filed last month focused on an Energy Department official's disclosure that the type of welded canisters PFS would use to store the spent fuel wouldn't meet contract requirements for storage at Yucca Mountain,the site in Nevada proposed to hold the nation's spent nuclear fuel.
The state argued the disclosure meant environmental analyses for the PFS facility would have to be redone. The state also claimed the dispute in effect threatened to turn PFS into a permanent instead of temporary facility.
The state has until next Friday to respond to PFS. After that, the licensing board will consider whether to allow oral arguments.
PFS could get its 20-year license as early as January and could
begin accepting shipments of spent fuel rods by 2007. The facility plans to take 44,000 tons of nuclear waste in 4,000 concrete and steel canisters that would sit for up to 40 years on open-air concrete pads covering about 100 acres 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
The state's complaint to the licensing board included concerns about whether PFS, a limited liability consortium of eight utilities, would have sufficient operating revenue or commitments from its customers to pay to repackor reship the waste.
Silberg said all the issues raised in the state's latest contention previously have been aired.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted a 40-year license allowing a nuclear utility to keep spent fuel in dry cask storage on site. The license granted to the Surry nuclear plant in Virginia was the first of its kind.
The NRC maintains that such facilities can safely store waste for at least 100 years.
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Providence Business News
December 11, 2004
N.E. Council outlines energy concerns for next year
By Bridget Botelho
Staff Writer
Group foreshadows possible legislation
The New England Council´s Energy and Environment Commission´s 2005 agenda includes studying the use of liquefied natural gas, regional greenhouse gas initiatives, electricity, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and nuclear waste disposal.
The New England Council is an alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions and public and private organizations throughout New England that follows and influences policies affecting the region.
The council expects energy legislation to be one of the top priorities of the 109th Congress, since Congress concluded the last session without passing national energy legislation.
Electricity needs
The need for reliable electricity continues to be of concern to the NEC. The need was underscored by the biggest blackout in U.S. history when 50 million people in the Northeast lost electricity on Aug. 14, 2003.
“There are congested areas in New England where lots of people and businesses are that strain resources. We have to find an effective way to get electricity to people reliably and at an affordable rate,’ said Deirdre Savage, executive director of public policy for the NEC.
ISO-New England, which monitors electricity grids throughout the region, reports that Rhode Island is “in fairly good shape’ with electricity usage due to its proximity to new generation in southeastern Massachusetts, but the state does not have enough of its own generation as consumption is expected to increase by 1.5 percent to 2 percent each year.
Resource constraints in southwestern Connecticut, Connecticut, Greater Boston and northwestern Vermont are cause for regional reliability concerns. Projects to address these constraints are in various stages of development, siting or construction.
If another blackout were to occur in New England, it would likely originate in southwestern Connecticut, said ISO-NE spokeswoman Ellen Foley.
There are approximately 250 planned or proposed regulated transmission projects throughout the region, with investment in these projects estimated at $3 billion over the next 10 years – but many residents are concerned over where.
“There is a lot of ‘not in my back yard´ sentiment. People don´t love having transmission lines nearby and there is a definite fear of LNG,’ Savage said.
‘LNG essential to region´
The NEC and Polestar Communications are putting together a proposal to develop a white paper on the liquefied natural gas supply in New England. The council´s goal is to make the case both qualitatively and quantitatively that “LNG is essential to the region and additional supplies are needed to meet energy needs in all sectors.’
“There is a lot of misinformation about LNG, but it is needed for the region for reliable and efficient fuel,’ Savage said.
Low-income assistance
The council will start working early in 2005 for an increase to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program base funding level for fiscal year 2006.
In 2004, the NEC wrote to the congressional delegation to increase the base formula funding for LIHEAP to $3.4 billion, the same amount that was proposed in the energy bill. LIHEAP was only funded at $1.9 billion for fiscal year 2005 with $300 million in emergency funding.
“These funds are not a handout and Congress has not fully funded the program in over a decade or forward-funded it,’ Savage said. “We are happy to have more funding but may need more.’
LIHEAP is a federal grant program that provides states with funds to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has been a voice for LIHEAP funding, and last year secured a $100 million increase for LIHEAP.
An estimated 4.5 million households received energy assistance through the program last year.
A Greenhouse Model
The council is involved in drafting a regional greenhouse gas initiative model rule and a multi-state cap and trade program to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The draft model rule is expected to be completed this spring and would have to be adopted by each state to be implemented.
The greenhouse gas initiative is a cooperative effort by nine Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.
“In New England we are already more advanced with our initiatives than most of the country, so drafting this is just the next step,’ said Savage.
The program may be extended to include other sources of greenhouse gas byproducts other than carbon dioxide in the future.
Nuclear Waste safety
The NEC lobbied members of Congress, drafted letters and met with staff over the past year on the need to fully fund the Yucca Mountain program to keep it on the schedule of receiving materials in 2010.
The U.S. Department of Energy began studying Yucca Mountain, Nev., in 1978 to determine whether it would be suitable for the country´s first long-term geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from national defense programs and nuclear power generation.
The materials are currently stored at 131 sites around the country.
In 2002, President Bush signed House Joint Resolution 87, allowing the Department of Energy to take the next step in establishing a safe repository in which to store nuclear waste, but Congress cut funding for the Yucca Mountain program by $303 million in fiscal year 2005 when it passed the omnibus appropriations bill before Thanksgiving, possibly delaying the opening of Yucca Mountain by several years, the NEC reports.
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Las Vegas SUN
December 10, 2004
Bush picks Bodman for energy secretary
Putting Yucca project on track will be a top issue
By Suzanne Struglinski
<suzanne@lasvegassun.com>
Sun Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- President Bush nominated Sam Bodman today as the new energy secretary.
Bodman takes over the Energy Department at a time when numerous questions still remain on the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada and Congress has yet to finish a comprehensive energy bill.
Nevada officials today were researching stances Bodman may have taken on Yucca Mountain or nuclear power issues, but initial checks didn't reveal much.
Incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada had a "long and productive" conversation with Bodman today, according to a Reid statement. Reid asked him to keep an open mind on issues facing the department.
"I stressed to Dr. Bodman that, while I understand he serves at the pleasure of the president who supports the project, I hoped he would take a fresh look at alternatives to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain," Reid said. "He agreed to do so."
Reid said he was looking forward to a thorough nomination process in order to examine Bodman's stances on issues facing the department.
Bodman will replace Spencer Abraham. Abraham resigned last month after serving with Bush since the beginning of his presidency. Abraham, a former Republican Michigan senator, lost his re-election race in 2000.
It's not clear whether Bodman had much involvement with the nuclear industry during his years in business. Bodman today said he spent 14 years managing Cabot Corporation, a global chemical company. Among Cabot's array of products is a chemical processing arm that markets tantalum, niobium and niobium alloys -- materials well suited for high-temperature environments in chemical, pharmaceutical and nuclear plants, according to the company Web site.
Bodman's nomination took some by surprise.
"He wasn't even on anybody's guess list," said Allison MacFarlane, a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has closely followed the Yucca project for years. She said she had never heard of Bodman.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said, "I am confident that Mr. Bodman will face the same rigorous questioning about his position on Yucca Mountain" as his predecessor did.
"Should he be confirmed as the next energy secretary, I will remain committed to educating Mr. Bodman on the problems and risks with shipping high level nuclear waste across the entire country to Yucca Mountain, an unsafe and flawed project that will not solve our nation's nuclear waste problems," Gibbons said.
Gibbons said he hopes Bodman will choose to invest in "21st century technologies," such as transmutation and reprocessing rather than "wasting millions of dollars on the unsound Yucca Mountain project."
Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., issued a similar statement.
"It is my hope that the secretary designee is open to alternative solutions when it comes to disposing of nuclear waste, though I expect that Mr. Bodman, if confirmed, will carry out the administration's wishes which includes Yucca Mountain," Porter said. "Nothing changes this fight. I will continue to work with my Nevada colleagues to stop the project."
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said that when it comes to Yucca Mountain, it is "irrelevant" who is nominated to the post because the administration has already made up its mind that it wants the project.
"If they have nominated this gentleman, I guarantee he will not stand up to them on this," Berkley said. "He has already passed that test."
Berkley said the administration has made clear it is not interested in anyone else's point of view. She said she doubted that Bodman has been "immersed in the Yucca Mountain issue" but that she will send letters and take other actions to make sure he knows of its problems.
"But I think we will be whistling in the wind," she said. "This is not someone with independent thoughts or the ability to take independent action."
Joe Colvin, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's advocacy group and top Yucca supporter, said the industry looks forward to working with Bodman to "maximize nuclear energy's role in achieving the nation's clean air goals and advancing its economic well-being and national security interests."
"We are greatly encouraged that the president has chosen an accomplished individual who clearly understands the vital role that dependable, affordable energy plays in fostering economic growth and improving quality of life for every American," Colvin said in a statement sent out by the institute.
"Given his extensive experience, Mr. Bodman understands the need for the federal government to send appropriate signals to the private sector that it values the large capital investments that are urgently needed in the nation's energy infrastructure," Colvin's statement said.
Bodman is now deputy secretary at the Treasury Department.
He previously served as deputy secretary at the Commerce Department, where he managed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who leads the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, supports Bodman's nomination and predicted a "swift and smooth Senate confirmation."
"He is articulate and brings a broad and impressive set of skills to the Department of Energy," Domenici said in a statement. "His management experience will be a boon to the department. His financial expertise will be a tremendous asset in accurately assessing the economic impact of energy policy and crafting that policy in an environment of fiscal restraint."
Abraham's nomination was not without controversy due to his previous working relationships with Michigan's auto manufacturers and his role in an attempt to actually abolish the Energy Department, but the Senate approved him.
Abraham's support in the Senate for the Yucca Mountain project followed him to the cabinet position as he became the main face of the administration's support for the nuclear waste storage site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. He was also a key advocate for construction of new nuclear power plants.
Abraham started the process outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 that eventually led to the approval of Yucca Mountain as the site for the nation to store its most dangerous nuclear waste.
In February 2002, Abraham recommended the project to the president and Bush signed off on the project days later, moving the fight to Congress. Congress eventually approved the site and Abraham was in the Capitol the day the Senate approved the site in July 2002.
But Abraham's tenure also saw significant roadblocks for the project that Bodman will have to figure out how to solve.
A federal court's decision throwing out a key radiation protection standard and an administrative court's demand for better documentation were among the reasons the department decided not to submit the project's license application by the end of the year as planned.
Bodman and the Energy Department's top Yucca official, Margaret Chu, will have to determine a new schedule for the project or explain how it will still open by 2010. Meanwhile, lawsuits against the department for not taking waste in 1998 as required are still pending and those could lead to judgments or settlements of billions of dollars in damages.
Bodman was born in Chicago in 1938. He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1961. He received his doctorate of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965.
Bodman gave the Republican National Committee $15,000 this May and gave Bush $2,000 in 2003 for his re-election campaign, according to campaign records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
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Las Vegas SUN
December 10, 2004
Bush Dubs Energy Pick a 'Problem Solver'
By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -
1210bush-energy President Bush picked a new energy secretary Friday and dubbed him "a problem solver" - a talent Samuel W. Bodman will need as he deals with high oil prices, nuclear waste and a Congress unwilling to pass the president's long-term energy plan.
The announcement filled one of the last two vacancies in Bush's second-term Cabinet, leaving only the secretary of health and human services. Bush is replacing nine of his 15 Cabinet members.
The selection of Bodman came as a surprise to most in the energy field and to many in Congress, but it was widely applauded.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that will consider Bodman's nomination, predicted a "swift and smooth" confirmation.
Over the past four years, Bodman, 66, has been the No. 2 official at the Commerce Department and, more recently, the Treasury Department. He replaces Spencer Abraham, the former Michigan senator.
Bodman is a former president of Fidelity Investments and the former chairman and chief executive officer of Cabot Corp., a chemicals and specialty materials company. He has degrees in chemical engineering and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 2001 he joined the Bush administration as the deputy secretary at Commerce, and a year ago he moved over to the Treasury Department with the same title. Outgoing Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a longtime Bush friend, recommended him strongly for the energy job.
Bush praised Bodman's management skills and noted his scientific background. "In academics, in business and in government Sam Bodman has shown himself to be a problem solver who knows how to set goals and he knows how to reach them," said Bush.
One of Bodman's major challenges will be to sell Congress on Bush's energy priorities, including one of the president's longtime goals of opening an Arctic wildlife refuge in Alaska to oil drilling.
After unveiling an outline of a broad energy strategy 3 1/2 years ago, Bush has yet to see Congress agree on comprehensive energy legislation despite soaring oil prices, a massive 2003 power blackout and concern about natural gas prices and possible future shortages.
Bush pledged Friday to renew his push for energy legislation when the new Congress convenes next month and to "pursue more energy close to home in our own country ... so that we're less dependent on energy from unstable parts or the world."
Other challenges facing Bodman will be to find a way to untangle legal and budget problems that have threatened the proposal for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Congress this year refused to provide enough money to keep the Yucca Mountain project on schedule, and a federal court ordered a review of proposed radiation standards for the site.
Bodman also will face growing concern - and probably complaints from Capitol Hill - about high energy costs with record winter heating bills expected to hit households across the country.
On Friday, state officials in charge of administering energy assistance to low-income families reported that they expected 5 million households to seek government help to pay heating bills this winter, the most in a decade.
Both heating oil and natural gas prices are at record highs this winter. Although crude prices have receded somewhat in recent weeks, they edged up again Friday past $42 a barrel as OPEC producers decided to cut output by one million barrels a day to stave of further price declines.
Bodman's selection was greeted with approval across the energy and business sectors. Representatives from the electricity, nuclear and natural gas industries cited his technical, management and financial background.
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee, lauded Bodman's experience in industry and government, his "management skills, and boundless intellectual curiosity."
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Las Vegas SUN
December 10, 2004
Bio Box for Samuel W. Bodman
Associated Press
NAME: Samuel W. Bodman.
AGE-BIRTH DATE: 66; Nov. 26, 1938.
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, Cornell University, 1961; doctorate of science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1965.
EXPERIENCE: Associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT, 1965-1970; technical director of the American Research and Development Corporation, a venture capital firm, 1964-1970; various positions with Fidelity Investments, including president and chief operating officer; director of Fidelity Group of Mutual Funds, 1983; chairman, chief executive officer and a director of Cabot Corporation, 1987; Cabot Corporation board of directors, 1988-present; Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, 2001-2004; member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
FAMILY: Married, three children, two stepchildren, eight grandchildren.
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Reuters
December 10, 2004
Bush Surprises Energy Industry with DOE Nominee
Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Friday nominated a senior Treasury Department official to be the next U.S. Energy Secretary, a surprise choice of a former chemical engineer with relatively little energy experience.
The nomination of Sam Bodman, who is now deputy Treasury Secretary, would leave just one cabinet post unfilled for Bush's second term.
Bodman, 66, would replace Spencer Abraham, a former senator from Michigan, who also lacked energy experience before he became head of the Energy Department and its $24 billion budget.
Bush said Bodman, who is also a former deputy secretary at the Commerce Department, would bring great talent to the Energy Department.
"We'll pursue more energy close to home in our own country and in our own hemisphere so that we're less dependent on energy from unstable parts of the world," Bush said in a brief appearance to announce the nomination.
Bodman said he looked forward to the challenge.
"If confirmed by the Senate, my colleagues and I at the Department of Energy stand ready to carry forward your vision of sound energy policy to ensure a steady supply of affordable energy for America's homes and businesses, and to work toward the day when America achieves energy independence," he said.
The new energy secretary will have to deal with high oil and natural gas prices, and help the Bush administration win congressional approval to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Other major issues include carrying out an ambitious plan to open a long-term storage site for the nation's nuclear power plant waste and preventing other countries' nuclear material from getting into the hands of terror groups.
Energy industry lobbyists and analysts expressed surprise at the choice of Bodman.
"Sam who? I've never heard of this guy," said one energy industry lobbyist, who added Bodman was virtually unknown to Washington energy policy insiders.
Although Bodman lacks much energy experience, it is widely believed among Washington energy lobbyists and experts that Vice President Dick Cheney directs major oil and gas policy issues. The White House has denied such involvement.
While record prices for U.S. crude oil and retail gasoline have been a high profile issue in recent months, the bulk of the Energy Department's work is focused on 17 national laboratories, research and nuclear weapons.
Bodman was recommended for the energy job by a former boss -- outgoing Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a Texas oilman and one of Bush's closest friends.
"Secretary Evans' recommendation speaks volumes about Mr. Bodman's qualifications," Republican Sen. Pete Domenici said in a statement.
Born in 1938 in Chicago, Bodman became a professor of chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and left teaching in 1970 to join a venture capital firm.
After that, Bodman went to work for a then-tiny Boston investment firm known as Fidelity Investments, where he remained for 17 years and eventually became president.
From 1987 through 2001, he was chairman of Cabot Corp., a specialty chemicals company based in Boston.
In July 2003, as deputy secretary of the Commerce Department, Bodman traveled with current Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow to Murmansk, Russia, to discuss exports of Russian fuels to the U.S. market.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Chris Baltimore)
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San Luis Obispo Tribune
December 10, 2004
Bush picks treasury official to fill energy secretary opening
William Douglas And Seth Borenstein
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - In a surprise move, President Bush on Friday tapped a deputy treasury secretary and former chemical-engineering professor with limited energy-policy expertise to be his new energy secretary.
Bush asked Samuel Bodman, 66, to advance a second-term energy agenda that includes ramping up domestic-energy development to help the nation begin weaning itself from foreign - particularly Middle Eastern - oil and to push the president's energy plan, which went nowhere in Congress the past four years despite Republican control of Capitol Hill. One controversial proposal: Open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
"We will pursue more energy close to home, in our own country and in our own hemisphere, so that we're less dependent on energy from unstable parts of the world," Bush said when introducing Bodman at a White House ceremony. "We will develop and deploy the latest technology to provide a new generation of cleaner and more efficient energy sources. We will promote strong conservation measures."
Bodman could face criticism because of his previous stewardship of a Boston chemical firm, Cabot Corp., which often ran afoul of federal and state environmental laws.
If confirmed, he would replace Spencer Abraham, a former Republican senator from Michigan, who also took the job with little experience in energy policy.
Energy-industry lobbyists said Bodman's appointment took them by surprise.
"In all of the conversations that I have heard, he was not there," said Bill Kovacs, the vice president for energy and environment of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the business lobby. "There's got to be a connection (to Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney) somewhere."
Cabot Corp. used to have a liquefied natural-gas division and supplied chemical fluids to the oil-drilling industry.
Some energy-industry insiders said Bodman's liquefied natural-gas experience was key because it was expected to be a larger part of future energy supplies and was promoted heavily by the Bush administration.
Harvard University professor Henry Lee, former Massachusetts energy chief under both Democrats and Republicans, was one of the few energy experts who knew Bodman, and he praised him.
"He's supposed to be a good manager, No. 1 - he's from MIT," Lee said. "On the credentials side, you've got somebody who knows a little about the issue and can manage. That puts him ahead of a lot of his predecessors."
Bodman earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1961 and a doctorate of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. He was an associate chemical-engineering professor at MIT from 1965 to 1970 and technical director of the American Research and Development Corp., a venture-capital firm, from 1964 to 1970.
In 1983, he was named president and chief operating officer of Fidelity Investments. In 1987, he moved to Cabot Corp., where he served as chairman and chief executive officer.
He joined the Bush administration in 2001 as deputy commerce secretary. He took over as deputy treasury secretary last February.
During his 15 years at Cabot, the company ran afoul of federal and state environmental laws numerous times, according to Cabot's annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
During Bodman's tenure, the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency twice fined Cabot - for $100,000 and $75,000, respectively - for failing to report hazardous spills and not complying with federal cleanup orders. The fines were imposed by the Bush administration, which doesn't have a reputation for cracking down on polluters.
Further, the state of Pennsylvania has clashed with Cabot about cleanup plans involving radioactive materials in Reading, Pa., that state officials found inadequate. Neighbors around plants in Boyertown, Pa., and Reading have filed several suits against Cabot alleging beryllium poisoning.
Merrill Mest, a Schwenksville, Pa., farmer who sued Cabot alleging fluoride and other toxic pollution at his farm from a Boyertown chemical plant, said Bodman's former company hadn't been a good neighbor.
"I don't think they've been environmentally safe," Mest said.
Until 1999 or 2000, "Cabot at the Boyertown facility did not take environmental compliance seriously," charged Gary Bryant, a lawyer for Mest and other neighbors. "If (Bodman) knew about those compliance problems and didn't do anything to address them, then I don't think he should be at the helm" of the Energy Department.
The written record of complaints against Cabot isn't unusual for a company in the chemical industry. They show that Cabot wasn't exceptionally clean or dirty, but somewhere in the middle, said Sylvia Lowrance, who was the EPA's top enforcement officer until she quit in protest over Bush administration policies in 2002.
Cabot Corp. officials didn't respond to a request for comment Friday.
The Energy Department has a substantial environmental responsibility, which consists of more than one-third of its budget, including the responsibility of cleaning up the nation's nuclear waste.
Some environmental groups questioned Bodman's selection. Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said Bodman didn't do much about global warming when he had oversight of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration at the Commerce Department.
"He was literally in charge of watching the polar ice caps melt," Pope said. "With Dr. Bodman's scientific and financial background, one could hope he would have the vision to use new technology to solve America's energy problems."
Several business and energy-industry groups applauded Bodman's selection.
"During his tenure in the administration and private sector, Bodman has proven his support for public policies that foster and encourage economic growth," said John J. Castellani, the president of the Business Roundtable. "In this new post, he will undoubtedly uphold policies that advance environmental responsibility while still allowing the economy to grow."
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Grist Magazine
December 10, 2004
What in the Sam Hill?
Bush nominates little-known official to be energy secretary
President Bush surprised D.C. insiders today by nominating a virtually unknown Treasury Department official, Sam Bodman, to serve as secretary of energy. "Sam who? I've never heard of this guy," said one energy-industry lobbyist, echoing what most everyone else inside the Beltway seemed to be thinking. A former chemical-engineering professor at MIT, head of an investment firm, chair of a chemical company, and Commerce Department official who oversaw the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bodman has little experience in the field of energy. If approved by the Senate to replace outgoing secretary Spencer Abraham (and no one thinks he won't be), Bodman would be expected to advocate for the GOP-backed energy bill, help win approval for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, pave the way for building the first new nuclear reactor in the U.S. since 1973, and press ahead with a plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
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Boston Business Journal
December 10, 2004
Former Cabot, Fidelity executive nominated to head Department of Energy
Boston Business Journal
Former Cabot Corp. and Fidelity Investments executive Samuel Bodman was nominated by President Bush to be secretary of the Department of Energy Friday, replacing Spencer Abraham.
For the past year Bodman has been deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, where he worked on tracking terrorist financing and modernizing the Internal Revenue Service.
An array of energy issues face the next energy secretary, including high oil and natural gas prices, potential drilling in an Alaska nature preserve, whether to build more nuclear reactors and how to proceed with the Yucca Mountain national nuclear dump planned in Nevada.
After receiving a graduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965, Bodman embarked on a 35-year career in Boston. He taught chemical engineering at MIT for six years before leaving to join Fidelity Venture Associates.
In 1983 Bodman became president and chief operating officer of Fidelity Investments. Four years later, he joined Cabot Corp. where he became chairman and chief executive officer. He has been a trustee of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the New England Aquarium.
He left Cabot three years ago to become deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce, where he oversaw the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Bodman was born in 1938 in Chicago, and received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1961.
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Pahrump Valley Times
December 10, 2004
Transport Council spent time in county to discuss Yucca
By Heidi J. Bertolino
Special to the PVT
As many as 25 representatives from the U.S. Transport Council arrived in Tonopah last week, some traveling from as far away as Tokyo to discuss the Yucca Mountain project with local elected officials and business owners in Tonopah and Pahrump. The council representatives come from leading companies experienced in the transportation of nuclear waste.
The group traveled to Nye County after being challenged by Nye County Commissioner Candice Trummell at a meeting earlier in the year in Washington, D.C.
The group obliged Trummell and traveled last week, first to Pahrump to meet with the community and then to Tonopah. After leaving Tonopah, members of the group planned to follow the route of the Caliente Corridor, as closely as they could, by bus.
Over dinner at the Ramada Inn, members of the Nuclear Transportation Commission discussed the issue and touched on their respective range of experiences.
Some members were involved in trucking nuclear fuel in Europe, others in storage cask design, and there were officials from competing nuclear power companies in attendance. Representatives from the Nuclear Energy Commission were present. Others had experience in railroad construction, or large infrastructure and design.
The one common element they share is that every one of them is involved in the nuclear energy industry - and nearly all informed the local officials of their respective company's long relationship with the industry.
Local officials and employees introduced themselves and offered insight into the county that will site the Yucca Mountain project if the Energy Department succeeds in its efforts to license the facility.
"We are the third largest county (geographically) in the U. S. and 98 percent is managed by the federal government," said Joni Eastley. Roundtable discussion began and the local officials let their feelings known about the proposed corridor's alignment.
The council cannot decide the rail route but offered what information it had gained from the Energy Department. The council representatives said that, to their knowledge, the proposed corridor would not be moved outside of the one-mile-wide strip of already withdrawn land.
At the very best, the Energy Department might be allowed to deviate from the proposed corridor within 10 percent of the original plan.
Jack Edlow told members the transportation of nuclear waste has been going on in the world since the 1950s. He also said the industry boasted an impressive record of hauling the waste without a single instance of release of radiation.
Council members said they would compete against each other for bids relating to the Yucca Mountain project but had come together to educate the public about the industry. Overall, their focus was to concentrate and form relationships to begin planning for economic development opportunities afforded by the project.
The council and public officials discussed at length possible opportunities for Tonopah related to the proposed railroad. Decontamination facilities, train and rail maintenance stations, communication stations, and many alternatives were tossed around.
In a later meeting officials said they were interested in building relationships with local businesses because it would be helpful in securing Energy Department contracts related to Yucca Mountain.
"Yesterday, while touring the site we ate a Marie Calendar's prepared lunch shipped in from Las Vegas," said Edlow. It was suggested somebody closer to the site could provide such meals.
The dinner meeting with public officials and breakfast meeting with business owners were similar. During both roundtable discussions the perception of Yucca Mountain was addressed.
Locals expressed a concern that folks in Las Vegas did not understand the implications of the project.
"It's like they think the train is going right past the Mirage," said Eastley about the perception of the project.
"It's like they think it will go past every elementary school," said Andrea Robb-Bradick owner of the Jim Butler Motel.
Edlow said they had representatives working on presentations for the Clark County area. He said he and other council members had been surprised by their warm welcome in both Pahrump and Tonopah.
Edlow said the perception in Washington, D.C., is that Nevada is completely against the project. He said it was the first positive representation the council had witnessed in Nevada.
The council was formed of interested parties in 2002 to combat misinformation associated with the nuclear industry in general and the Yucca Mountain project specifically.
Since its establishment the council has become a leading voice on nuclear materials transportation and potential spent fuel transpiration to the Yucca Mountain repository. The council's initiatives include educating the public, Congress and media about nuclear materials transportation and safety. Its focus is the nuclear industry's successful safety track record.
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South Bend Tribune
December 10, 2004
Coalition wants Cook closed
Environmental groups protest license renewals for nuclear reactors.
Jim Meenan
Tribune Staff Writer
American Electric Power Co.'s attempt to renew its license for its twin reactors at the D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman is facing stiff opposition from environmental and public interest groups.
Groups in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, as well as a national watchdog on the nuclear power industry, are involved in the opposition.
In fact, those groups don't want the licenses renewed for 20 years when the current licenses expire in 2014 and 2017, for units one and two, respectively, and they want the plant closed down.
The coalition filed a three-page written statement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday, citing weaknesses in Cook's radiation containment building, risky reactor cooling procedures and the large amount of additional radioactive waste that would be generated during the 20-year period.
The coalition believes the concerns provide evidence that the regulatory commission should reject the application for extension.
A decision is not expected until sometime in the middle of 2005.
The group claims that in late 2000, after Cook's three-year forced shutdown due to major safety concerns, Ross Landsman, veteran Nuclear Regulatory Commission structural engineer, expressed concern that the agency was allowing the two reactors to start without adequate containment.
"We fear that no substantial repairs to this 'soft spot' have ever been done," said Gary Karch, Niles spokesman for Don't Waste Michigan.
Karch said there could be a release of radioactivity in a serious accident.
Not surprisingly, Bill Schalk, spokesman for Indiana Michigan Power, a subsidiary of AEP, sees that and other issues raised by the coalition quite differently.
He agreed that there was a question of structural integrity of the interior containment wall of the units.
"We presented a repair plan, and it was accepted by the NRC," Schalk said. "We believe the issue is resolved, and there is no soft spot."
Schalk also acknowledged there was a differing opinion filed within the NRC.
"He (Landsman) disagreed with our experts and (the NRC's) experts, and it's his right to file," Schalk said. "It was considered and not accepted."
Schalk also called Cook one of the safest plants in the country prior to Sept. 11, adding additional steps have been taken since.
The group also questioned why the utility would file so long in advance for a renewal when the first unit's license is not even up until 2014.
Schalk said the reason a utility files so early is because if the renewal is rejected, 10 years is a reasonable amount of time needed to secure replacement power of such magnitude.
Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, expressed concern over the amount of nuclear waste already on the Cook site.
"They are sitting on 1,000 cubic metric tons of waste at Cook -- high-level, radioactive waste," he said.
Even if the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada is opened for nuclear waste, Kamps believes Cook will always be stuck with at least 1,000 tons of waste, and much more if it does not open.
Schalk said there are a lot of opportunities for storage of nuclear waste, but the primary site is Yucca Mountain.
"It's safe where it is right now until it is ready," he added, saying that should happen in 2014.
Kamps indicated the coalition is frustrated with a past lack of action by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"Based on the past, we have always been ignored by the NRC," he said. "We will see what happens. If we get rejected, we will turn to Congress."
Schalk said the company's primary objective "has been and will always be the safe operation of the plant and the protection of the public's health and safety."
Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com
Questioning Cook's license renewal (insert)
A multistate group is challenging American Electric Power's bid to the US. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 20-year license extensions for the twin reactors at Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman.
Concerns cited include:
- Possible weaknesses in Cook's radiation containment building.
- Claims of risky reactor cooling procedures at the plant.
- The large amount of additional high-level radioactive waste that would be generated.
- Cook's vulnerability to a terrorist attack.
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WNDU-TV
December 10, 2004
Cook Nuclear seeking license extension
Bridgman, MI - The push is on to extend the life of the Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman.
Right now, the plant is licensed to operate through the year 2014 but the federal government is being asked to grant a 20-year extension.
If the extension is granted, it will be done over objections recently filed by a coalition of grassroots environmental groups.
Gary Karch of the public interested group Don't Waste Michigan", says, “The process of generating electricity there would create waste that are lethal for up to 250,000 years if not more, and we have not resolved that problem of what to do with those wastes where they could be safely interred.’
More than 1,000 tons of radioactive waste is already being stored at the Cook plant while officials attempt to set up a national repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
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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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