Yucca Mountain News Clips
Monday, July 17, 2006
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NEI
July 17, 2006

Eric McErlain

Less Than Meets The Eye in Yucca Layoff Story

Saturday's edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal carried a story headlined, Layoff notices set for Yucca staff. I checked in with my colleague Steve Kraft, and he tells me this is much ado about nothing:

There will not be 500 layoffs in Las Vegas. The story in the LVRJ is about notices under federal law to workers potentially affected.

In the transition to Sandia as the lead laboratory for the Yucca Mountain project, Bechtel/SAIC is shedding scientific responsibilities. About 500 positions have been identified for shifting. The positions will remain in Las Vegas. Sandia will review all the folks and decide to whom they want to make job offers. At the end of the process, whether there is a net decrease, increase or no change in the number of jobs remains to be seen. This is very typical when there is contractor turn over in an on-going federal project.

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New York Observer
July 17, 2006

Yucca Money and the 11th

One small detail on Carl Andrews' fundraising: among his donors is Winston & Strawn PAC, the fundraising arm of a lobbying firm that earned millions from the Bush Administration Department of Energy pushing for a nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

This is not to say that Andrews has done anything wrong. Winston & Strawn is a massive firm that, Yucca Mountain aside, represents a roster of blue-chip corporate clients that includes Cisco, Microsoft, McDonald's and Philip Morris. And the firm has donated money to a long list of Democrats that includes Hillary Clinton, whose Senate campaign Andrews worked for in 2000.

It's just interesting that the Chicago-based firm, which seems to donate predominantly to Republicans, has chosen its candidate in the 11th.

-- Josh Benson

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Portsmouth Herald News
July 17, 2006

Maine Yankee plan draws heat

By Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine -- The site of the former Maine Yankee atomic power plant holds 600 metric tons of nuclear waste sealed in 64 concrete and steel casks that are designed to last for decades.

But now there are concerns that more of the highly radioactive waste could be diverted to the Wiscasset site if legislation in Washington passes.

The Bush administration proposal seeks to reprocess waste so that less is stored permanently at a proposed dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the designated federal storage site that was supposed to open in 1998.

Legislation that awaits a Senate vote also envisions temporary storage at sites across the country because Yucca Mountain is years behind schedule to open.

Some critics don't want a program they say would divert resources and support for Yucca Mountain, which is limited by law to accepting 70,000 metric tons of waste.

Others, including Maine lawmakers, municipal officials and advocacy groups, are concerned that the former Maine Yankee site could become a dumping site for New England's waste.

"I think it could lead to a situation where Maine might be stuck holding the bag here," said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lyman's group is part of a coalition effort urging Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to oppose the program in a spending bill.

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Las Vegas SUN
July 16, 2006

Post-modern Guinn

By Kristen Peterson
<kristen@lasvegassun.com>
Illustrations by Chris Morris
Las Vegas Sun

Gov. Kenny Guinn and the first lady are to select an artist to paint the governor's portrait. The portrait will hang regally in the state Capitol among portraits of other Nevada governors.

The artist must execute the portrait according to Nevada Revised Statute 223.121, which requires an oil painting, "appropriately framed" and executed in the "same manner, style and size as the portraits of former governors."

To this we ask, why?

Why not get crazy? Why not tap into the assorted art movements that led to modern-day dialogue? Why not Basquiat?

It's true that Willem De Kooning's emotional intensity - launched from his canvases during the 1950s - might horrify schoolchildren visiting the capitol building. But Guinn's Millennium Scholarship Fund could later enable these students to better understand the depths of Abstract Expressionism.

Francis Bacon's distorted realism might be too gloomy to immortalize Guinn's legacy on canvas. Andy Warhol's glamour could come across as insincere and a perpetual mockery of a governorship in the Wild West. But Roy Lichtenstein appeals to many generations and is likely to portray the two-term governor as a clean and determined man who led with wisdom and strength.

Or, why not tap into the photorealism of Chuck Close, one of the most influential portrait artists of our time?

Salvador Dali? Nothing is more surreal than a neon city in a desert. Or Guinn's attempt to broaden Nevada's tax revenue in a state that gloats over its low taxes.

Edvard Munch's anxiety might best reflect the insanity of Southern Nevada's growth, its water shortage and fight over Yucca, while embracing the loss of Nevada's rural ranching communities.

But alas, Susan Boskoff, executive director of the Nevada Arts Council, says, "The discipline of good portraiture can be looked at as historical as well as an art form," and says that the work should represent "gravitas."

However, she adds, "There is still room for the artist to be expressive."

On that note, Chris Morris, the Las Vegas Sun's art director, looks at what might have happened if Dema Guinn had said, "Hey “ why don't we get that Picasso fella?"

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Reno Gazette-Journal
July 17, 2006

Ensign works to boost clout in Senate GOP

Diana Marrero
dmarrero@gns.gannett.com

WASHINGTON -- Even though he's up for re-election this year, U.S. Sen. John Ensign is spending a lot of time and money helping other Republicans with their own campaigns.

Earlier this week, the Nevada Republican missed two Senate votes while campaigning in Pennsylvania for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, who is in a tough re-election battle.

Ensign, who seems certain to win a new term, also has given thousands of dollars to other GOP candidates.

The payoff, he hopes, will come in a much less visible campaign he is waging in Washington. Often overshadowed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Ensign is seeking to raise his profile by vying for a leadership position.

It's an obscure but important one: Senate Republican conference vice chairman. Attending fundraisers with colleagues is one way to help ensure he wins the post.

If he does, his new status could have larger implications for Nevadans. Having two senators in leadership positions would increase Nevada's clout in Congress. That could translate into more funding for the state as well as increased influence on such legislation as the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste project, political analysts say.

"The state of Nevada would be well served to have the leader of the Democrats and someone in the leadership for the Republicans," said Brian Darling, the director of Senate relations for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy organization.

Ensign says he became interested in a leadership position because he thinks he could help refocus Republicans on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

"Democrats are worse than us, but we're not that much better these days," he said.

As conference vice chairman, Ensign would be responsible for keeping the minutes of party conferences and working closely with party bosses. He also would have some influence on the Senate schedule -- that means helping decide what bills make it to the floor for a vote -- as long as Republicans remain the majority party.

The position could also be seen as a stepping stone into a higher-ranking leadership post. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., once held that post.

"It's generally a first step," said Tripp Baird, a former Lott staffer who now works as a lobbyist. "You're in all the leadership meetings. You are someone who always has a seat at the table."

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also has expressed interest in the position currently held by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas.

What does it take?

A number of factors could influence who senators decide to place in the role: personal relationships, the amount of money they have donated to fellow senators' political campaigns and loyalty to the party.

On party loyalty, Cornyn might have Ensign beat. Cornyn voted in line with President Bush's wishes 98 percent of the time in 2005, according to Congressional Quarterly. Ensign voted with Bush 89 percent of the time.

But Ensign recently helped gather petition signatures from Republican senators to support Bush on an Iraq war spending measure, which the president threatened to veto unless senators trimmed costs.

Ensign also appears to have shared more of his political funds with his colleagues.

Ensign has given at least $300,000 to the Republican Senatorial Committee in the past two years from his Senate campaign committee. He gave about $63,000 to individual Republicans from his leadership committee in the same time frame, according to Political Money Line, which tracks money in politics.

By contrast, Cornyn, who won't be up for re-election until 2008, gave at least $58,000 from his leadership committee to other Republicans.

In his Senate campaign, Ensign's top contributors have come from the health care, communications, retail and finance industries. He leads two subcommittees in the Senate, the Commerce Committee's technology subcommittee and the readiness subcommittee under Armed Services.

Both Cornyn and Ensign are considered good candidates, so the leadership race will probably come down to personal relationships, Darling said.

As seemingly insignificant as the position might sound, it could serve as a springboard for an aspiring politician, he said.

"I don't think anyone's goal in life is to be conference vice chair," Darling said. "The goal is to work your way up into leadership and eventually become the leader of the party."

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Boston Globe
July 17, 2006

Federal proposal raises fear that more waste to go to Maine plant

Plan seeks to store less at Nev. dump

By Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine -- The site of the former Maine Yankee atomic power plant holds 600 metric tons of nuclear waste sealed in 64 concrete and steel casks that are designed to last for decades.

But now there are concerns that more of the highly radioactive waste could be diverted to the site in Wiscasset if legislation in Washington passes.

The Bush administration proposal seeks to reprocess waste so that less is stored permanently at a proposed dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the designated federal storage site that was supposed to open in 1998.

Legislation that awaits a Senate vote also envisions temporary storage at sites across the country because Yucca Mountain is years behind schedule to open.

Some critics don't want a program they say would divert resources and support for Yucca Mountain, which is limited by law to accepting 70,000 metric tons of waste.

Others -- including Maine lawmakers, municipal officials, and advocacy groups -- are concerned that the former Maine Yankee site could become a dumping site for New England's waste.

``I think it could lead to a situation where Maine might be stuck holding the bag here," said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lyman's group is part of an effort that includes Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Sierra Club that is urging Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine to oppose the program in a spending bill.

While neither of the Republican senators has said how she will vote on the bill awaiting action in the Senate, each opposes storing nuclear waste at Maine Yankee for the 25 years that the legislation allows.

``Having led the charge to defeat the potential placement of a second national nuclear repository in Maine in the 1980s, I will unequivocally oppose any legislation that could open up the state of Maine to either a nuclear fuel reprocessing site or an interim storage facility," Snowe said.

Collins said she would ``vigorously oppose any effort to store outside waste in Maine."

``I will also continue to push the federal government to ensure that the waste that we have currently is removed from Maine in a safe and secure manner," she added.

With completion of the Yucca Mountain storage site delayed, a provision in the federal legislation allows the US energy secretary to take title to closed plants like Maine Yankee and take responsibility for the storage of high-level nuclear waste until it can be moved.

Another provision calls on the energy secretary to designate a consolidation site for waste within any state with a reactor for 25 years.

``The state has no power to stop this," Lyman said. ``Maine, in particular, might be seen as a good candidate for this by proponents as a New England regional facility."

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Hartford Courant
July 17, 2006

Editorials

Enough Nuclear Waste Politics

Although nuclear power has certain advantages over fossil fuel, it has one huge disadvantage. Permanent storage of the radioactive waste generated by power plants has been all but impossible.

America's 103 commercial reactor sites in 31 states, including Connecticut, have been forced to store their spent fuel on site temporarily until a permanent resting place opens up.

The difficulty has less to do with technology than politics. In 1987, the federal government designated the deep recesses of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the permanent tomb for all commercial radioactive waste. Resistance, especially in Nevada, has been fierce.

"Not in my backyard" is a powerful force. In the meantime, some 50,000 tons of waste in the form of spent reactor fuel rods are scattered throughout the 31 states, many in densely populated areas.

Also, in the meantime, the federal government has been collecting fees from nuclear plant operators to pay for the permanent disposal of their waste. But the Yucca site has yet to receive the necessary operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Even if a license were granted, the facility wouldn't begin to receive the waste until 2018.

Is there any wonder that utilities are suing the government for the millions of dollars they are paying in mandatory fees for the supposed permanent disposal of nuclear waste?

To spur movement, a Senate panel recently approved yet another "temporary" solution.

Under a plan from Chairman Pete Domenici of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the government would assume responsibility for storing the nuclear waste in new regional "consolidation" centers for up to 25 years, or until Yucca Mountain is opened.

Storage sites would be built on federal land or on private land purchased by the government. All sites would have to be approved by regulatory agencies. National parks, wilderness areas and wildlife refuges would be off limits, of course.

The idea is controversial and perhaps unworkable, but it has one overriding appeal: It provides an alternative to the temporary storage of nuclear waste in Haddam, Waterford and a hundred other places. It's time to get off the dime.

Until then, the nuclear industry's wishes, supported by the Bush administration, to build 50 new nuclear power plants by 2020 will remain a pipe dream.

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CattleNetwork
July 16, 2006

G8: Nuclear Revival Continues, Despite German Angst

St. PETERSBURG (Dow Jones)--World leaders Sunday took their clearest step yet toward endorsing nuclear power as an antidote to rampant oil prices and climate change, despite the enduring opposition of broad swathes of their electorates.

A statement released by heads of state from the Group of Eight industrialized countries gave broad backing to the revival of a technology that is still reviled by green groups worldwide, but capable of meeting a large part of the expected increase in energy demand over the coming decades.

"Those of us who have or are considering plans relating to the use and/or development of safe and secure nuclear energy believe that its development will contribute to global energy security, while simultaneously reducing harmful air pollution and addressing the climate change challenge," the G8 said.

The careful wording of the statement highlighted the increasingly isolated position of Germany among the world's nuclear nations, a point seized upon by German supporters of the industry.

Economy Minister Michael Glos told the mass-circulation newspaper "Bild am Sonntag" that Germany's partners "have understood that they need nuclear power," while Edmund Stoiber, head of the Christian Social Union, renewed his calls to postpone the phasing out of nuclear plants agreed by the previous government.

The G8's declaration also came on the heels of the publication of a long-term energy strategy document by the U.K. government last week, which strongly advocated the construction of a new generation of nuclear plants.

Environmental groups immediately criticized the G8 statement, and weren't impressed by its professed commitment to assuring non-proliferation and "a reliable safety and security system."

"Spreading nuclear reactors around the planet will pave the way for new terrorist threats and new potential nuclear armed states," the environmentalist Grace Policy Institute said in a statement. Amid an escalation of violence in the Middle East and near-record oil prices, energy issues were atop the official, Russia-led agenda in St. Petersburg.

Focused intensely on crafting a political response to the violent flareup in southern Lebanon, the leaders took a largely uncontroversial stance in a first-ever statement of principles of "energy security," agreeing that transparent markets and diversified fuel sources are necessary.

The nuclear issue, however, is more contentious. To ease what he's called an "addiction" to oil, President George W. Bush is pushing for an aggressive rollout of new nuclear power plants in the U.S., where atomic energy accounts for just one-fifth of the nation's electricity source.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin has laid out plans to build over 20 new nuclear plants to raise the share of nuclear power in its own fuel mix to 25% by 2020 from 16% at present. Part of the rationale of the Russian plan is to allow natural gas that is currently burned by inefficient power plants to be exported instead, at much higher prices.

The U.S. and Russia used the weekend to push their own nuclear relationship into new territory, agreeing to look into ways to jointly develop nuclear technology, which had previously been taboo due to Russia's relationship with Iran.

The new pact could be worth billions to Moscow by eventually allowing Russian firms to enrich U.S.-made uranium, without a now-necessary middleman. The U.S., in turn, may take a leading role in reprocessing spent fuel.

The question of its final storage, however, remains unsettled. Earlier this week, U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said Washington was still far from decided on lifting a ban on foreign buyers of U.S. nuclear fuelfrom transferring waste to Russia.

"It's something that we'll have to talk about, because in order to do that, there would have to be all kinds of technical details and safeguards worked out," Hadley said.

The U.S. may have little option though, since a new storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada that is due to be commissioned will soon be completely filled, according to Congressional committee report. Russian officials denied reports that they will allow any large-scale storage of foreign nuclear waste, but greens fear such a deal is already as good as done.

"I'm very, very skeptical, given the history of statements from RosAtom," said Greenpeace's Tobias Muenchmeyer. He said Russia stood to gain over $20 billion for offering such storage - income which would greatly offset the cost of the construction of new plants.

Even though polls suggest that 90% of Russians don't want their country to become an importer of nuclear waste, Muenchmeyer and others predicted Moscow would eventually get into the business.

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MaineToday
July 16, 2006

Could Maine Yankee become a regional nuclear waste site?

Bart Jansen
Washington D.C. Correspondent

WASHINGTON — A Bush administration proposal to reprocess nuclear waste and store it at sites across the country has sparked concerns that the site of the dismantled Maine Yankee nuclear power plant could become a regional magnet for radioactive waste. The administration's proposal - called Global Nuclear Energy Partnership - aims to reprocess waste so that less is stored permanently at a proposed dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Legislation awaiting a Senate vote also envisions temporary storage at sites across the country because Yucca Mountain is years behind schedule to open.

But critics, including House members who cut funding for the proposal in their version of the spending bill, contend that supporting the program would divert resources and support for Yucca Mountain.

The concern among Maine lawmakers, municipal officials and advocacy groups is that Maine Yankee could become a magnet for New England waste. The Wiscasset site already has 600 metric tons of nuclear waste that the federal government was supposed to cart away for federal storage in 1998.

"I think it could lead to a situation where Maine might be stuck holding the bag here," said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lyman's advocacy group is part of a coalition effort that includes Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Sierra Club to urge Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to oppose the program in a spending bill.

Snowe and Collins, both Republicans, haven't said how they will vote on the bill awaiting action in the Senate. But each opposed storing nuclear waste at Maine Yankee for the 25 years that the legislation allows.

"Having led the charge to defeat the potential placement of a second national nuclear repository in Maine in the 1980s, I will unequivocally oppose any legislation that could open up the state of Maine to either a nuclear fuel reprocessing site or an interim storage facility," Snowe said.

"I would vigorously oppose any effort to store outside waste in Maine," Collins said. "I will also continue to push the federal government to ensure that the waste that we have currently is removed from Maine in a safe and secure manner."

Congress has grappled for decades with how and where to store waste from nuclear power plants that generate 20 percent of the country's electricity. The federal government collects a tax for waste storage and was supposed to open Yucca Mountain by 1998 - a year after Maine Yankee's board agreed to close.

About 55,000 metric tons of waste has accumulated nationwide, with another 2,000 piling up each year. At Maine Yankee, nuclear waste is sealed in 64 casks, which are concrete and steel silos designed to last for decades.

The federal government was supposed to create a permanent repository for nuclear waste by 1998. But political opposition and technical concerns have prevented the Energy Department from even applying to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yet to open Yucca Mountain.

President Bush proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership in his State of the Union speech Jan. 31. The goal is to sift uranium from spent fuel roads for use again to spur production of nuclear power around the world.

One problem, however, is that reprocessing also yields plutonium that could be used in nuclear weapons.

The Energy Department contends the program will render plutonium unsuitable for weapons. Bush proposed spending $250 million this year on research and development of such a program.

But a skeptical House voted May 11 to cut $96 million. In an accompanying report, the Appropriations Committee expressed "serious reservations" about the program for lack of details about how the program would work. "Unfortunately, it appears that the department has decided to put . . . Yucca Mountain on the back burner," the House report said.

In contrast, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted June 29 to increase the project's $250 million by $36 million.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said he was "impressed" with the program because Yucca "is a long way off." He is chairman of both the Energy Committee that sets policy and the Appropriations subcommittee on energy that sets spending priorities.

"These provisions are the next logical step to managing our spent nuclear fuel," Domenici said. "I hope we can finally unclog this drain."

Critics note that the Senate bill allows the energy secretary to take title to closed plants such as Maine Yankee and take responsibility for the storage of high-level nuclear waste until it can be moved. Another provision calls on the energy secretary to designate a consolidation site for waste within any state with a reactor for 25 years.

Governors could nominate an eligible site, but the federal secretary would make the decision.

"The state has no power to stop this," said Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Maine, in particular, might be seen as a good candidate for this by proponents as a New England regional facility."

Maine officials vowed to oppose interim storage or reprocessing at Maine Yankee.

"I'm very concerned," said Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine. "It'll adversely affect Yucca Mountain and that will mean that we'll have nuclear waste in Maine for years, if not decades, longer."

Wiscasset Town Manager Andrew Gilmore said the town has no interest in increasing storage at Maine Yankee or hosting a reprocessing center. The power plant once provided $12 million in taxes to the town, but now pays only $1.2 million. The community is focused on maritime economic development.

"We would adamantly oppose it," Gilmore said. "Expanding the storage facility in any way, shape or form we would view that as very adverse."

Scott Peterson, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group representing 275 power plants, said the federal government wouldn't foist storage on a state that didn't support it. He expected the federal government to deal with states that sought reprocessing plants because they create economic growth in communities and at universities.

"I think those are coveted projects," he said. "If you look at what the government does with other projects, I think they'll look at federal facilities first, or at least partners that would like to participate cooperatively in that kind of a venture."

Something needs to change, however, either in the creation of waste or its disposal.

The government faces 60 federal lawsuits, including one from Maine Yankee, for failing to meet its obligations for permanent waste storage by 1998. The government estimated it will spend $2 billion to $3 billion if Yucca opens in 2010, and an additional $500 million each year after that.

Meanwhile, since 1985, the federal government collected 0.1 cents per kilowatt hour from nuclear plants to pay for permanent storage. But, after collecting $24 billion, the government has spent only $7 billion - and Yucca Mountain still isn't open.

"The nation's debt to these customers is long past due," Robert Garvin, a Wisconsin Public Service commissioner representing the National Association of Nuclear Regulatory Utility Commissioners, told a House hearing March 10.

Yucca Mountain is limited by law to accept 70,000 metric tons of waste. Even though administration advocates say the site could be expanded to accept 120,000 metric tons, industry advocates contend reprocessing would slow the need for finding more permanent storage locations.

"Our objective is to expand the use of nuclear energy in the United States, period," Dennis Spurgeon, assistant secretary of energy, told a House hearing April 5 in support of the reprocessing program. "And this is one thing we can do to remove one of the perceived roadblocks."

- Staff researcher Julia McCue contributed to this report.

Washington Correspondent Bart Jansen can be contacted at 202-488-1119 or at:

bjansen@pressherald.com

Reader comments

Tom T of B'ville, NY
Jul 16, 2006 6:19 PM

How Ironic....

500 people employed at an average of $50 G's with an operating power plant, now a nuclear waste dump employing 30 people at minimum wage. Once again the people and government of Maine have really thought it through. I don't know about you but I think I will go hug a tree. Maine - The tourism state with more trailers than Lobsters....

Bill of Yarmouth, ME
Jul 16, 2006 10:25 AM

I favor storage in Maine (Peakes Island, NRDC headquarters or whatever).

Compensation received could go to fund still another study on how to improve Maine's economy.

Rod of Augusta, ME
Jul 16, 2006 9:46 AM

The general public is too ignorant to deal with these issues. They should be made by professionals. We need to depend more on nuclear power in order to reduce foreign dependance and reduce CO2 emissions. There is enough real estate to store the waste until future advanced techonology can make good use of it or a permanant conversion of it to harmless product.

John
Jul 16, 2006 9:27 AM

I think Peaks Island would be the perfect repository.

Frank of Stoneham, ME
Jul 16, 2006 8:02 AM

The big problem with nuclear power has always been what to do with the waste, both from the original mining to the spent uranium. I remember as a kid reading the National Geographic magazine article that showed all those neat glass cylinders that the waste would be forever entombed in...what a crock that turned out to be!!!

Until we can really figure out what to do with this stuff we need to forget about adding additional nuclear plants.

AJ of Rome, ME
Jul 16, 2006 8:00 AM

Yes, but ONLY if Maine is handsomely compensated.

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Las Vegas Review-Journal
July 15, 2006

Layoff notices set for Yucca staff

Workers to be warned about reorganization of planned nuclear waste repository

By Steve Tetreault
Review-Journal

WASHINGTON -- As many as 500 Yucca Mountain workers will receive warnings next week that they might be laid off at the end of September as part of an ongoing reorganization of the nuclear waste repository program, officials said Friday.

Notices are being prepared for about a fourth of the work force of managing contractor Bechtel SAIC and for its commercial and federal laboratory subcontractors, Bechtel spokesman Jason Bohne said.

Many of the employees affected are well-trained scientists, engineers, computer modelers and technical workers. Some of the workers are expected to be retained by Bechtel as it repositions its work plans, Bohne said.

Others are expected to be offered jobs by the Sandia National Laboratories, which is taking over portions of the Yucca project from Bechtel.

But others might not be retained. On Friday, Bohne and Sandia representative Kate Rivera said they did not know how many workers might be offered new jobs and how many might face layoffs in the fall.

"These are individuals with experience and qualifications on the project," said Rivera, manager of organizational assurance and operations for Sandia. "It's a wonderful opportunity for Sandia to tap into that talent, and we are trying to facilitate the transition as best as possible."

The Energy Department announced the reorganization in January, saying it expected the transition to be complete by October.

Sandia has been involved in DOE activities at Yucca Mountain since work began there in the early 1980s. Sandia's role is expanding to assume control of science and technical components, including projections of how long the underground repository might prevent residue of highly radioactive and decaying nuclear waste from escaping into the environment.

Bechtel is refocusing on designing above-ground facilities where nuclear waste will be transferred from trucks or rail cars and managed for emplacement.

DOE managers said the reorganization was designed to improve the project's credibility with scientists and regulators. Sandia performed a similar role in coordinating the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in Carlsbad, N.M., a repository that began receiving transuranic nuclear waste for disposal in 1999.

A job fair where Yucca employees can meet with Sandia officials and subcontractors has been scheduled for July 21 and July 22 at the Desert Vista Community Center in Summerlin, Rivera said.

Additionally, Sandia will establish a job recruitment Web site, Rivera said.

Bohne said 100 Bechtel employees and 400 subcontractor and federal laboratory workers will receive Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices required by federal law.

Bechtel will "send notices to everyone who could be affected and then there is a management process to identify what work scope remains and what skills we need to do that scope, and then evaluate the people we have and the skills we need to keep," Bohne said.

The total contractor work force is about 1,900, Bohne said. That includes 1,300 Bechtel employees, 300 subcontractor workers and 355 federal laboratory contractors.

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Las Vegas SUN
July 15, 2006

Layoffs planned at Nevada's proposed nuclear waste dump

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - As many as 500 workers at the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain will receive notices next week that they might be laid off at the end of September.

Officials said Friday that the layoffs were part of an ongoing reorganization at the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Notices are being prepared for about a fourth of the work force employed by managing contractor Bechtel SAIC and for its commercial and federal laboratory subcontractors, Bechtel spokesman Jason Bohne said.

Many of the employees affected are scientists, engineers, computer modelers and technical workers. Some of the workers are expected to be retained by Bechtel as it repositions its work plans, Bohne said.

Others are expected to be offered jobs by the Sandia National Laboratories, which is taking over portions of the Yucca project from Bechtel.

Bohne and Sandia representative Kate Rivera said they did not know how many workers might be offered new jobs and how many might face layoffs in the fall.

The Energy Department announced the reorganization in January, saying it expected the transition to be complete by October.

Under the reorganization Sandia will assume control of science and technical components, including projections of how long the underground repository might prevent residue of highly radioactive and decaying nuclear waste from escaping into the environment.

Sandia performed a similar role in coordinating the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in Carlsbad, N.M., a repository that began receiving transuranic nuclear waste for disposal in 1999.

DOE managers said the reorganization was designed to improve the project's credibility with scientists and regulators.

The department wanted to open the dump in 2010, but allegations that government scientists skirted quality control requirements and a federal court's invalidation of the government's proposed radiation safety standards have pushed back the opening date.

--Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com

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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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