Yucca Mountain News Clips
Monday, August 21, 2006
---------------------------
Nevada Appeal
August 20, 2006
Yucca Mountain project may soon be put to rest
Gov. Kenny Guinn
During my two terms as Nevada's governor, perhaps no single issue has been as vexing and problematic as the efforts of the federal government to locate a repository for highly radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain, just 90 miles from Las Vegas. Despite a decade of revelations about the site's fatal geotechnical flaws and the systematic falsification of scientific data by project personnel, somehow this federal project, spearheaded by the Department of Energy (DOE), continues to be pushed down our collective throats.
Now, after years of strong, sustained, and unified opposition by the State, its political leaders, congressional delegation, citizens, local governments, and others, Yucca Mountain finally and deservedly appears to be headed toward the trash bin of history.
In 2002, I issued a statement outlining reasons why I had disapproved the President's decision to recommend Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository. In that statement, I observed that, "Yucca Mountain is but the latest in a long series of DOE boondoggles-one based on bad science, bad law, and bad public policy. In addition, better, cheaper, and safer alternatives exist." The statement went on to conclude, "the only thing inevitable about Yucca Mountain is that it will plot the course of so many other doomed DOE mega-projects." More than two billion dollars of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars later, Congress finally appears to have reached the same conclusion.
U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Dominici-a prominent supporter of nuclear power and the nuclear industry-recently introduced new legislation that shifts focus from the failed Yucca Mountain program to the concept of interim storage, either at existing reactor locations or at regional "consolidation and preparation" (CAP) facilities. The legislation, subsequently approved by the full Committee, implicitly recognizes for the first time that the country is on the wrong track in its approach to dealing with spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The importance of this legislation cannot be overstated.
Despite the looming death knell for the Yucca Mountain project, recent media coverage of DOE's revised Yucca Mountain schedule-a timetable that would have the facility begin operations in 2017- clearly demonstrates that officials at DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management will continue the agency's bureaucratic effort to keep the fiction surrounding this site alive.
As with other major federal programs that have ultimately collapsed under the weight of shoddy science, excessive costs, and strong opposition-a super colliding superconductor and the Clinch River breeder reactor to name just two-the Yucca Mountain program is not likely to disappear overnight. Like General Douglas MacArthur's reference to old soldiers, such federal programs tend to fade away over time. Sen. Dominici may have envisioned such an eventuality when he suggested that the time has come to put Yucca on the "back burner" while the country explores more reasonable and potentially successful nuclear waste strategies.
The Yucca Mountain fight has been a long and difficult one. Nevadans can be justifiably proud of how the State has pulled together to bring this dangerous, ill-advised, and unnecessary project to a standstill. For years, Nevada has stood alone in opposing the project and exposing Yucca's fraudulent science, excessive costs, and unacceptable impacts and risks. Nevada has also been at the forefront of the effort to alert the rest of the nation to the tremendous hazards associated with transporting thousands of shipments of deadly radioactive waste across the country to an unsafe site in Nevada.
It has been Nevada's strong and unyielding opposition over the past two decades that has prevented an out-of-control federal bureaucracy from making a mistake of unprecedented proportions, which would impact many generations of citizens-both in Nevada and around the United States-for thousands of years to come.
Although the battle is not yet over, I am very encouraged by the new thinking and direction in Congress. Thanks to the sustained efforts of all Nevadans, we may finally be seeing the light at the end of the Yucca Mountain tunnel and the beginning of a new chapter in the nation's approach to solving the nuclear waste problem.
--Kenny Guinn is the governor of Nevada.
---------------------------
Hampton Union
August 20, 2006
Democratic energy plan uses common sense
By Gary Patton
gandlpatton@comcast.net
Crawford Notch grinned when he saw me walking toward him. "Well, Patton," he said, "do you Democrats still dislike nuclear power now that gas prices have topped $3 a gallon? A cheaper, alternative energy source like nuclear power doesn't seem so bad now, does it?"
"Crawford," I said, "I must admit that thought crossed my mind lately. But, then I remembered all the problems we've had with the Seabrook nuclear power plant over the years. In 2002, stress corrosion cracking was found in one of the plant's four steam generators. In 2003, inspectors discovered a coolant leak inside the containment dome. In 2005, a security fence intended to prevent terrorists from invading the plant failed a Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection and was declared inoperable. Apparently, it had not worked since it was installed six months previously."
Crawford mocked me. "Well, la-de-da, I don't see terrorists swarming over the plant. I guess the problem wasn't serious, was it?"
I replied, "The problem was serious enough that the NRC fined the owners of the Seabrook station $65,000 for that violation."
"That's old news," said Crawford. "All those problems were solved without a serious incident occurring."
"The thing that bothers me," I responded, "is that every time one difficulty at Seabrook is taken care of, another pops up. Some day, our luck will run out. Some years ago, Yucca Mountain in Nevada was designated a national depository site for radioactive waste. The Portsmouth Herald noted in an editorial, Political power struggles and technical problems have stalled completion of the Yucca Mountain facility. It was scheduled to be up and running by 1998. Now, the date is 2017, and from all indications, that is a very optimistic projection.'
"Because of that delay," I continued, "Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico has proposed an amendment to the federal energy appropriations bill to establish interim sites for radioactive waste in all 31 states with commercial nuclear reactors. The Herald editorial points out there is already a high-level waste dump in the state, and the indication is it will continue to fill with spent nuclear fuel for some time. It is called the spent fuel pool,' and it is on the grounds of the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant, right here on the Seacoast.'"
"Not only that," I went on, "the plan for evacuating people living within a 10-mile radius of the plant has not been updated by FEMA and the NRC since 1998. The Hampton Union wrote in an editorial, All of us here on the Seacoast know that if there were a real emergency at the Seabrook plant, getting those who live here year-round, much less the thousands of visitors who flock to our beaches this time of year, out of harm's way is an impossibility.'"
"Look," said Crawford, "I don't see people around here staying up nights worrying about an accident at Seabrook Station."
"Crawford," I replied, "Nobody lost much sleep beforehand worrying that the World Trade Center could be destroyed by terrorists or a major hurricane could decimate New Orleans. Those were classic cases of closing the barn door after the horses escaped. The same thing could happen at Seabrook."
"Well," responded Crawford, "what do you dim-bulb Democrats propose we do -- move into caves and warm ourselves by campfires?"
"How about getting serious about alternative energy sources like wind power?" I replied.
Crawford burst into laughter. "Oh, you tree-hugger Democrats are all the same. What would you have us do? Wear plastic propellers on top of beanies to generate electricity? You know, Patton, you could use a jolt or two of electricity to your brain to rid it of those nutty liberal ideas."
"You'd better tell that to the nutty Yankees in Lempster, N.H., because plans are under way there to install 12 two-megawatt wind turbines that will create power to accommodate 10,000 homes. Laura Richardson, president of the New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association, writes in the Union-Leader, (wind power) works in New Hampshire as it works elsewhere. Surely, common-sense Yankee thinking hasn't disappeared.'"
"Imagine that, Crawford. A common-sense Democratic idea. My, my."
Gary Patton is chairman of the Hampton Town Democratic Committee. Send an e-mail to him at gandlpatton@comcast.net.
---------------------------
Las Vegas Review-Journal
August 19, 2006
Report faults DOE on nuclear waste
Investigators say mistakes on Yucca repeated
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy still is failing to do a good job of correcting mistakes in its nuclear waste program, a problem that could affect safety and delay the proposed Yucca Mountain repository even more, investigators said in a report issued Friday.
Since DOE put a new corrections program in place in October 2003, workers have reported more than 5,600 potential problems with data, software and computer models for repository designs.
But auditors found that more than half of the most significant potential problems were not addressed in a timely manner, and mistakes continued to be repeated. More than 100 possible problems that should have been handled through formal corrective action were not managed properly, they added.
The 20-page report released by the Energy Department's inspector general underscored DOE's continuing struggle to manage details of the complex undertaking.
DOE had asked the inspector general to audit its corrections program, which was put in place after it was found that earlier systems for fixing deficiencies were not working.
DOE accepted the latest audit and "initiated an aggressive plan of action to improve the program," according to the report.
"This review shows the commitment that this department has toward improving the management and oversight of the Yucca Mountain Project," DOE spokesman Craig Stevens said in a prepared statement.
Bob Loux, a repository critic and director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the latest audit spotlighted the same DOE problems as before with quality assurance.
"We have been seeing and hearing about these kinds of things for some time," Loux said.
"If anything, the IG is understating the effect these problems have. In other nuclear facilities, these things have resulted in cancellations."
The Energy Department has set a June 2008 goal to send the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a comprehensive application to license a repository where 77,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel would be handled and stored within Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Following an eight-month audit, inspectors said they were told by Yucca managers that some corrections "proved to be more complicated than anticipated." In some cases, corrections were delayed for budget reasons.
Problems could delay NRC licensing to begin repository construction, auditors said.
DOE missed its original 1998 deadline to open a Yucca repository and also abandoned a 2010 startup date. Its new target for repository operations is March 2017.
---------------------------
San Luis Obispo Tribune
August 19, 2006
Full steam ahead for Diablo project
PG&E starts building a place to house radioactive waste despite requests for an injunction to stop construction
David Sneed
dsneed@thetribunenews.com
Diablo Canyon´s dry cask spent fuel storage facility is beginning to take shape.
Twenty metal rings embedded in an 8-foot-thick concrete slab mark where large casks will one day be mounted. Each cask will contain 32 used but still highly radioactive reactor fuel assemblies.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is proceeding apace with the project despite a requested injunction to stop it. Construction on a hillside behind the plant is expected to be completed by year´s end but the first cask will not be loaded until November 2007.
Next to the slab sits another one in the making. It consists of a dense cage of metal reinforcing bars with 20 more metal rings perched atop it. On Tuesday, workers will fill that metal cage with more than 2,000 cubic yards of concrete, a job so big it will take 14 hours to complete.
The rings make this project unique, said Jearl Strickland, Diablo Canyon´s spent fuel manager. The cask will be bolted to the rings. At all other aboveground spent fuel storage facilities, the casks sit unattached on their concrete pads.
"We are the only site in the world that anchors the casks," Strickland said.
Bolting the casks to the pad is intended to prevent them from toppling over during an earthquake, a particular concern along the seismically active Central Coast. At 20 feet tall and weighing 170 tons each, the casks need 8 feet of concrete to provide a sufficient anchor.
PG&E is authorized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build seven such pads to accommodate 138 dry casks. It will initially build only two — enough for 40 casks. The remaining slabs will be added as needed. When complete, it will cover an area the size of one and a half football fields.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, storage facilities for high level radioactive waste have been lightning rods for controversy, none more so than the one at Diablo Canyon.
A federal appeals court recently ruled that the NRC should examine the environmental impacts of a terrorist attack on the dry cask facility. The NRC and PG&E are still deciding whether they will appeal the ruling.
In the meantime, the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and other groups have asked the NRC to order PG&E to stop building the dry cask facility until the federal court case is resolved. Officials with the agency say the commission will rule on the injunction request sometime before the facility opens.
Spent fuel at Diablo Canyon has generated another lawsuit. PG&E has sued the federal Department of Energy in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. for its failure to open an underground nuclear storage facility at Yucca Mountain.
The utility is seeking $100 million from the agency to offset the costs it incurred through 2004 developing on-site storage facilities at Diablo Canyon and its defunct Humboldt Bay nuclear plant. A ruling on that case is expected in early September, Strickland said.
--Reach David Sneed at 781-7930.
---------------------------
Las Vegas SUN
August 18, 2006
DOE Inspector General report faults quality assurance at Yucca
By Erica Werner
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - A program to find and correct quality assurance problems at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump has not been effective, said a report by the Energy Department's Inspector General on Friday.
The audit was requested by Yucca managers last October, several months after the discovery of internal e-mails suggesting government scientists working on the project flouted quality control requirements.
The report looked at a "Corrective Action Program" in place at the project since 2003. It found that more than 100 issues that should have been managed through the program were not; that problems were not fixed as fast as they should be; and that fixes were not always effective, so issues recurred.
"As a result, potential conditions that could affect the ongoing design and analysis work may go unresolved, delaying issuance by the (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) of the license to begin construction and operation of the repository," said the report.
Energy Department officials mostly accepted findings of the report and promised to implement changes. They disputed a few points, including contending that not all potential problems at Yucca must necessarily be reported through the Corrective Action Program.
"This comprehensive report will help us make certain that our processes and procedures are sound as we move forward on the path to getting Yucca Mountain licensed, constructed and opened," said Energy Department spokesman Craig Stevens.
The report was the latest in a series of Inspector General and Government Accountability Office reports to criticize management of the dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas that is supposed to hold at least 77,000 tons of radioactive waste for generations to come.
Those problems and others - including the e-mail controversy - have led to repeated delays at Yucca Mountain, which the Energy Department now wants to open in 2017.
The work by the scientists who wrote the e-mails is being redone but no criminal charges were brought. Program managers have subsequently promised a renewed focus on accountability and quality control at Yucca Mountain.
---------------------------
Pahrump Valley Times
August 18, 2006
Air Force and DOE consider flyovers of Yucca
By Steve Tetreault
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Air Force confirmed Thursday it is negotiating air space rights over Yucca Mountain to balance pilot access to the Nellis Test and Training Range and security at the nuclear waste site that has been proposed nearby.
As part of its plan to build a repository for highly radioactive used nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy has proposed to control use of 229 square miles of land now managed by other federal agencies surrounding the Yucca site.
The department also is seeking to designate a "no fly zone" as part of the project. Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, told Congress last week the restricted flight area would have a four-mile radius centered on the mountain.
In a statement Thursday, the Air Force confirmed its officials and DOE counterparts are negotiating flight rules over the repository.
"Air Force and DOE representatives in Nevada continue to discuss potential control measures to accommodate both agencies' missions," the service said in a statement issued in response to a reporter's query.
Negotiators "are still working together to refine mutually acceptable control measures to limit or preclude any operational impact on Air Force flying missions in the Nevada Test and Training Range.
"We remain optimistic agreement will be reached such that any control measures will have no appreciable impact on Air Force operations," the statement said.
The Air Force's willingness to talk about flight controls near Yucca Mountain appears to represent a shift in thinking. In September 2003, top Air Force officials said restrictions on aircraft operating in test range airspace "will negatively impact our readiness activities."
"Overflight restrictions are untenable," Air Force Secretary James G. Roche and Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper said in a letter to congressional leaders. They described the Nellis training range as a "national treasure" that enables the military to practice large-scale operations.
Talks are being held in the state between DOE representatives in Las Vegas and Air Force liaison officers at the Nevada Test Site, officials said.
"They are our neighbors and we will be working with them on air restrictions, there is nothing wrong with that at all," DOE spokesman William Greene said of the Air Force.
The Air Force controls 3.1 million acres and 12,000 square miles of airspace over southern and central Nevada that it uses for testing and munitions training, electronic combat, and air-to-air combat exercises. Flight programs are operated from Nellis Air Force Base.
Nevada officials who oppose the Yucca project have criticized the idea of allowing DOE to set flight rules on the Air Force. At a Senate hearing last week, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said it set "a very dangerous precedent."
The Energy Department is seeking to restrict flights near the repository to buttress its licensing bid before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.
As part of its licensing process, DOE has studied the probabilities and potential outcomes of plane crashes at the Yucca site, where canisters of highly radioactive material will be kept above ground as well as within a warren of mountain tunnels.
"The NRC wants some definitive proof they have this issue covered," Loux said. "If they have a no fly zone or whatever, that is all related to satisfying the NRC."
Loux said he expected prolonged talks between DOE and the Air Force. There is sentiment among officers at Nellis Air Force Base against Yucca flight restrictions, he said, based on conversations between officers and state representatives.
"I think (the Air Force) will postpone and procrastinate (about) anything substantial," Loux said. "If there is any discussion, it seems to me it is going on at lower levels."
---------------------------
Pahrump Valley Times
August 18, 2006
Animal concerns, Focus Group project on county agenda
By Mark Waite
PVT
The level of staffing for veterinarians at the Nye County Animal Shelter and a proposed bill amending provisions on licensing animals and impoundment will be discussed when Nye County Commissioners meet beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Pahrump Community Center.
The bill will tighten regulations on exotic animals and set guidelines on dog rescue operations, catteries and animal sanctuaries. In a related item, veterinarian Dr. Suzanne Zervantian submitted a new proposal for working at the animal shelter.
Other items on the Tuesday agenda include extending a program to track sex offenders; renewing an agreement with Nevada Health Care Centers Inc. to manage clinics in Amargosa Valley and Beatty and applying for a U.S. Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant.
The county clerk's office will present the results of a canvassing of the Tuesday primary election results.
Appointments are due to the Nye County Board of Equalization, the Nye County Wildlife Management Board, the Smoky Valley Library Board, the Beatty Town Advisory Board, the Tonopah Library Board, the Nye County Parks and Recreation Commission and the county financial administrative staff member to the Nye County Debt Management Commission.
Commissioners will discuss some Nye County Downtown Development Grants that were intended for communities like Round Mountain and Gabbs but weren't included in the current year budget.
The Nuclear Waste Repository Office has an item to approve the revised Nye County Community Protection Plan for the Yucca Mountain project.
The firm of Bureau Veritas/ Berryman and Henigar will assist in reviewing engineering submissions and inspection of public improvement projects if another item submitted by the Public Works Department is approved. Commissioners will also consider an agreement with Charles Abbott and Associates, the firm operating the county building and safety department, to help in reviewing engineering submissions and inspecting subdivision improvements.
During the Wednesday planning section of the commission meeting, commissioners will consider a development agreement with PV Land Investments for the Gateway master planned community at the south end of State Highway 160 at 1:30 p.m.
Discussions of the other planning items begin at 8:30 a.m.
Commissioners will consider amending disclosure requirements on soil and ground water conditions.
A development agreement with William Lyon Homes for the Mountain Falls North subdivision will be hammered out. The Forum Group Ltd. wants the county to abandon 1,900 feet of Leslie Street between Highway 372 and Flamingo Road.
A zone change request will be heard to change 20 acres of low density residential property to general commercial on the south side of East Mesquite Avenue between Promenade and DuPont Drive. Another application for commercial use has been submitted by Bolling Construction Co. at 1911 E. Mesquite Ave.
---------------------------
State of Nevada
Agency for Nuclear Projects
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/
nwpo@nuc.state.nv.us
775-687-3744
---------------------------