Yucca Mountain News Clips
Thursday, July 14, 2005
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Las Vegas SUN
July 14, 2005
Porter demands deadline be set on Yucca e-mails
By Benjamin Grove <grove@lasvegassun.com>
Sun Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., plans to subpoena the Energy Department unless the department by Monday hands over documents related to an investigation of Yucca Mountain worker e-mails that suggest quality assurance documents were falsified.
Porter first requested the documents April 7, as part of a congressional investigation. The Energy Department has declined to release the documents, and it missed a Porter-set deadline Wednesday.
Energy Department officials have suggested that Porter could come view the documents at the department, which Porter said was insulting to Congress.
"We have asked for a public hearing so that the public can see this information," said Porter, who is leading the investigation as chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on the federal workforce and agency organization.
Porter said the department has denied even simple requests that include acronym lists and Yucca program organizational charts that include names.
Porter also has requested records, including correspondence and e-mails, relating to the employment status of three Yucca workers named in the e-mails who continued to work on the Yucca project, at least as of March 9.
The documents will help Porter's committee piece together a puzzle that could show program mismanagement, Porter said.
Porter doesn't expect the department to meet the Monday deadline, he said.
"In my mind, they are hiding something, and they don't want the public to see these documents," Porter said. "Enough is enough."
The Energy Department objected to Porter's committee disclosing to the public the documents it has already given the panel. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- not Porter's panel -- has the jurisdiction for deciding which Yucca documents ultimately should be made public, department lawyer Eric Fygi told Porter in a June 24 letter.
At issue in Porter's investigation are e-mails written between 1998 and 2000 by at least three scientists working on Yucca water flow studies. Such studies are vital to the Yucca project, which aims to construct a leak-proof, national repository for the nation's most radioactive nuclear waste in tunnels under Yucca.
The existence of the e-mails was disclosed by the department in March. Investigations by the inspectors general with the Energy Department and USGS are ongoing.
Nevada officials believe the e-mails are damning to the overall case made by the department that Yucca is a safe repository site. The Energy Department and other project supporters say the e-mails are not proof that any actual Yucca data was falsified. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has said initial investigation has shown that the science supporting Yucca as a safe waste site was not compromised.
Porter's committee has held two hearings on the e-mails, including a hearing June 29 in which one of the e-mail authors, U.S. Geological Survey scientist Joseph Hevesi, testified that he did not falsify Yucca quality assurance documents.
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Las Vegas SUN
July 14, 2005
Editorial: Will politics decide Yucca?
Las Vegas Sun
A year ago Nevada's legal fight against storing the nation's high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain scored a near-knockout blow. A federal appeals court ruled that a critical safety standard governing Yucca's construction was not even close to being met. The standard had to do with the science of nuclear waste, and for how long its radiation would pose a lethal danger to the outside world once buried.
Congress had ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to set a "radiation standard," which would be integral to how a proposed nuclear waste dump would be built and how the waste would be contained. Congress had also ordered the EPA to rely on calculations by the National Academy of Sciences in setting the standard. The Academy said the standard should be set for the peak life of the radiation, which is about 300,000 years.
The EPA, however, had set the standard at 10,000 years. This was a gift to the Energy Department, which must apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to operate Yucca Mountain. Given the political will at the federal level for Yucca Mountain to open, it's conceivable that the department could persuade regulators that Yucca Mountain would be safe for 10,000 years. It would be impossible to make that case if the standard were 300,000 years.
The court gave the EPA two options: Write a new standard based on the academy's recommendation, or persuade Congress to drop the requirement that it rely on the academy's scientific judgment. The EPA is working on a new standard. But wouldn't you know it? This week Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy Committee, said he intends on his own to introduce a bill in the fall that could mandate a 10,000-year radiation standard.
Because of the court's ruling, the Yucca Mountain project is near death. But if successful, Barton's bill could lead to its full recovery. And this would prove, once again, that Yucca Mountain is a political endeavor having very little to do with science.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
July 14, 2005
Barton plans to write nuclear waste bill
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A House committee chairman plans to begin writing a nuclear waste bill this fall that would remove barriers holding up Yucca Mountain, according to state officials and industry lobbyists.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, intends to revive legislation that would grant the Department of Energy greater access to construction funds for the nuclear waste repository, according to lobbyists who met with him recently.
Barton, the influential chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told reporters this week he is weighing other initiatives to expedite the stalled program and make changes in the nation's nuclear waste policy.
He has said he would turn to nuclear waste after Congress completes action on a major energy policy bill, most likely later this year.
Proposals being studied by Barton reportedly include resolving a court ruling on Yucca Mountain radiation safety standards by requiring them to remain at the current 10,000-year level.
Committee spokesman Larry Neal said Wednesday that "Barton's plan is to provide full funding for Yucca Mountain. Others may have other ideas, and they may be glorious things and worth considering, but the chairman has not drafted a bill to implement them."
Charles Pray, a Maine nuclear safety official, and David Wright, a state utility regulator from South Carolina, said Barton told them in a June 29 meeting that he planned for his committee to begin forming a repository accounting bill this fall, and continuing into next year.
Pray and Wright are co-chairmen of the Yucca Mountain Task Force, a pro-repository coalition. In an interview on June 30, the task force leaders said Barton did not mention other nuclear waste initiatives that might be included in such a bill.
House lawmakers have worked over the past half dozen years to reclassify Yucca Mountain budget accounts to grant the Energy Department easier access to $750 million that nuclear utilities pay each year into a nuclear waste fund.
Department officials have cited underfunding by Congress as one reason for delays in the repository which was supposed to open in 1998. DOE more recently has abandoned a proposed 2010 opening, and experts say it could be 2015 or later before Yucca Mountain might begin accepting nuclear waste.
Although the House has been supportive of Yucca legislation, efforts have stalled in the Senate where Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a repository opponent, has put up roadblocks.
"My reaction is to not be too excited about whatever is brewing in the House, because the challenge for those who seek such solutions is getting anything supported through the Senate," said Brian O'Connell, nuclear waste project director for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
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Las Vegas Review-Journal
July 14, 2005
New deadline set on Yucca Mountain
Energy Department won't give up data
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jon Porter set a new deadline Wednesday for the Energy Department to hand over documents related to Yucca Mountain workers' e-mails.
Porter, R-Nev., gave DOE officials until Monday to comply with a demand issued in April by the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee.
Porter, the panel's chairman, is investigating allegations of improper pressures and misconduct on the nuclear waste project.
"I am giving them one last opportunity," Porter said when Energy Department leaders missed a Wednesday deadline.
Porter said he will seek to subpoena material concerning e-mails in which scientists appear to discuss shortcomings in quality assurance documentation of water flow research at the Nevada site.
Porter sent a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman demanding the documents by Monday. DOE spokesman Allen Benson said officials are reviewing the letter.
Energy Department officials have expressed concern that disclosure of certain documents could interfere with investigations by inspectors at the Energy and Interior departments, and with a document database being compiled at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
DOE's acting general counsel, Eric Fygi, proposed in letters Friday and last month that subcommittee investigators review material at the agency's headquarters.
Porter rejected the offer, saying, "I'm sorry, that is an insult to the congressional process."
The subcommittee had held two hearings on the e-mails, which were written between 1998 and 2000 by scientists assigned by the U.S. Geological Survey to collect data and write computer models on water flow at the repository site.
Joseph Hevesi, a USGS hydrologist who wrote some of the e-mails, was subpoenaed to testify and told the subcommittee June 29 that he did not falsify documents on Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Hevesi testified that some provocative messages were written out of job frustration but not malice. He said others contained science jargon that could be wrongly interpreted.
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KRNV
July 14, 2005
House member plans measure to speed opening Nevada nuclear dump
A key House lawmaker says he's going to sponsor a bill in the fall that could speed the opening of a national nuclear waste repository in Nevada.
House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton tells the Las Vegas Sun his measure could mandate a 10,000 year radiation standard for the Yucca Mountain project.
The Republican from Texas says he might also include a plan for storing radioactive waste at temporary storage sites while Yucca Mountain is being developed. He might also give the Energy Department more access to funds outside spending constraints of the annual congressional budget.
Similar proposals in the past have drawn strong opposition from Nevada lawmakers, who vow to again oppose Barton's proposals.
The Yucca program has been slowed in recent months by budget shortfalls, controversy about scientific research and a crucial court ruling that said the radiation standard should be set for a much longer time.
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KRNV
July 14, 2005
Porter sets final deadline for release of Yucca documents
Nevada Congressman Jon Porter has set a new deadline for the Energy Department to release documents related to potential paperwork fraud on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump.
If the department doesn't produce the documents by next Monday, Porter will seek to subpoena them.
Porter's panel, a subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee, has been investigating e-mails suggesting government scientists on the dump project falsified documents. He has been pressing the Energy Department to release various documents that could assist in the probe, but the department has resisted.
In letter last month, the department proposed making the documents available for committee staff to look at but not remove.
The department is concerned about the documents being released to the public.
At a hearing late last month, Porter said he would give the Energy Department two more weeks to comply with the document request, a deadline that passed Wednesday.
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Las Vegas SUN
July 14, 2005
New state office building opens in Nevada
By Brendan Riley
Associated Press
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's new $19 million Bryan Building formally opened Thursday, as efforts continued to move workers out of another state office structure that's only 30 years old but is plagued with major structural problems.
The five-story, nearly 119,000-square-foot building, named in honor of former Democratic Gov. and U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, will house the state Conservation and Natural Resources Department.
Gov. Kenny Guinn praised Bryan for his many achievements in public service, including key roles in environmental issues such as Lake Tahoe protection, opposition to a high-level nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain and preservation of part of the Galena-Mount Rose area for public use.
Bryan said he was pleased to have a building named after him, joking that such honors usually go to notable Nevadans who have died - and his wife Bonnie had received a couple of calls offering condolences.
Bryan also stressed the importance of conservation, repeating President Teddy Roosevelt's statement that natural resources are assets to be preserved and "to be passed onto the next generation."
After the dedication ceremony, Guinn responded to questions about the problem-plagued Kinkead Building by noting a legislative panel will be asked in September to provide $1.3 million to help find leased space for the state employees in that structure.
"We have to do this," Guinn said of the relocation effort. He added that he'd push to have funding for a building to replace the Kinkead structure included in spending proposals to the 2007 Legislature.
Rena Meyers, an organizer for the State of Nevada Employees Association, said she's optimistic about shutting down the Kinkead Building, adding, "It seems that everyone is on the same page and realizes people need to be relocated. Clearly, it's an unsafe environment that has been neglected for quite some time."
Meyers didn't discuss legal action, although some state workers favor litigation if there's any foot-dragging on the relocation of workers from a building that has problems such as sagging floors, falling pieces of concrete, leaks and poor ventilation.
The Kinkead issue has been discussed for years, and came to a head recently after the 2005 Legislature approved a new, $22 million University of Nevada, Reno building sought by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, rather than a new office building that had been on Guinn's list of proposed state projects.
Mike Meizel, the former head of state Buildings and Grounds, has said he tried for years to get the Kinkead Building condemned for safety reasons. He said there have been problems with the structure since it was completed in 1975.
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Petoskey News-Review
July 14, 2005
Daily inspections must continue
Big Rock Point Nuclear Restoration Project is requesting a change to its license to allow for two-week inspections of its fuel containment casks, rather than daily inspections.
We don't think being overprotective is being too cautious when we're talking about radioactive waste. Daily inspections must continue.
Contractors BNG Fuel Solutions, which designed the eight casks, has submitted a request to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the change.
The move is aimed at saving Consumers Energy money. We understand the motive to save money. We're not saying Consumers is trying to cut corners. The request is based on two years of data collection on the performance of the casks with indications they are operating as designed, according to company spokesman Tim Petrosky.
The casks hold spent nuclear fuel from the plant when it was in operation. Each cask weighs up to 167 tons when fully loaded and stands 19 feet tall with an 11.5-foot diameter. The casks are being used as temporary storage for the spent fuel, until they are taken to a storage facility in Nevada in 2012.
Storage at Yucca Mountain is far from a done deal.
- At least one scientist is accused of falsifying Yucca Mountain data.
- The Department of Energy hasn't yet asked the NRC for license to build nuclear waste facilities on the site.
- Nevada state and some local officials have vowed to stop it.
- Nevada is in federal court to derail Energy Department plans for a rail line to ship radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain, claiming "abuses of authority" by the George Bush administration and its "decide-first, analyze-later approach."
- The 2010 completion date has been scrapped.
So, who knows how long these casks will be sitting here on the shores of Lake Michigan?
Inspecting the cask involves checking for radiation leaks. While they have thermostats and video surveillance, they don't have on-board radiation detectors so they have to be hand checked.
If Big Rock wants to add on-board radiation monitors, we'd be less concerned about dropping daily inspections. But as it stands now, we do not think daily radioactive inspection can ever cost too much money when weighed against the potential - no matter how minuscule - of a radioactive leak going undetected for even a day, let alone two weeks.
The NRC, which will consider the request can be reached by e-mail at opa@nrc.gov.; a Web site link to report concerns about non-emergency nuclear safety can be found at http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/regulatory/allegations/safety-concern.html, or by phone call at (800) 695-7403.
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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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