DOE Notifies Nevada of Intent to Recommend Yucca Mountain as National Nuclear Waste Repository
GAO Releases Yucca Mountain Report
Federal Court Denies State's Water Petition
Federal Court Denies Stay of Radiation Standards
Ely Hosts Three Public Hearings
NRC Provides Sufficiency Comments
DOE/NRC Finalize Yucca Mountain Rulemakings
Washington, D.C. - As required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham notified Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and Nevada Legislature that he intends to recommend to President Bush that the Yucca Mountain site is scientifically sound and suitable for development as the nation’s long-term geological repository for nuclear waste, which will help insure America’s national security and secure disposal of nuclear waste, provide for a cleaner environment, and support energy security.
The Secretary of Energy phoned Governor Guinn on January 10th to inform the Governor of his decision. The Secretary’s letter of notification was transmitted to Governor Guinn and the Nevada Legislature immediately following the call. Following is the text of the notification letter:
Thursday, January 10, 2002
Dear Governor Guinn:
This letter is to notify you, In accordance with section 114(a)(1) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, of my intention to recommend to the President approval of the Yucca Mountain site for the development of a nuclear waste repository. In accordance with the requirements of the Act, I will be submitting my recommendation to the President no sooner than 30 days from this date. At that time, as the Act also requires, I will be submitting to the president a comprehensive statement of the basis for that recommendation. First, and most important, that recommendation will include the basis for and documentation supporting my belief that the science behind this project is sound and that the site is technically suitable for this purpose. Second, there are compelling national interests that require us to complete the siting process and move forward with the development of a repository, as Congress mandated almost 20 years ago. In brief, the reasons are these:
- A repository is important to our national security. We must advance our non-proliferation goals by providing a secure place to dispose of any spent fuel and other waste products that result from decommissioning unneeded nuclear weapons, and ensure the effective operations of our nuclear Navy by providing a secure place to dispose of its spent nuclear fuel.
- A repository is important to the secure disposal of nuclear waste. Spent nuclear fuel, high level radioactive waste, and excess plutonium for which there is no complete disposal pathway without a repository are currently stored at over 131 sites in 39 states. We should consolidate the nuclear wastes to enhance protection against terrorist attacks by moving them to one underground location that is far from population centers.
- A repository is important to our energy security. We must ensure that nuclear power, which provides 20% of the nation’s electric power, remains an important part of our domestic energy production.
- And a repository is important to our efforts to protect the environment. We must clean up our defense waste sites permanently and safely dispose of other high level nuclear waste.
As I indicated earlier, pursuant to section 114(a) of the NWPA, I will be submitting my recommendation to the President no earlier than 30 days from today, together with the other documentation the statute requires. I will provide you with a copy of those materials at that time.
Sincerely
[signed]
Spencer Abraham
Secretary of Energy
In addition to the notification letter, the Department also released January 10th a document entitled Yucca Mountain "Commonly Raised Topics," which includes a map of nuclear waste sites. This document is reflective of the most commonly raised topics and includes a description of the step-by-step decision process as required by law.
Also, as required by law, the Secretary of Energy’s basis for recommendation and supporting materials will be available to the public once the formal recommendation is delivered to the President.
For an online copy of the "Commonly Raised Topics," a map of the nuclear waste-related sites, and the Secretary’s letter to Governor Guinn, visit the Department of Energy’s website: www.energy.gov.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) released its final report on the Yucca Mountain Project on December 21, 2001. The GAO had been asked by U. S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and U. S. Representative Shelly Berkley (D-NV) to conduct an investigation concerning allegations of mismanagement at the Yucca Mountain Project.
The allegations stem from a January 2001 "whistleblower" letter addressed to the Inspector General of the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). The anonymous letter sited examples of "gross mismanagement by senior career federal staff", dramatically increased costs in the total system life cycle of the project, schedule slippages, adversarial interactions with the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) and misplaced program priorities. The objective of the GAO investigation was to determine whether:
The nine-month study concluded that a Presidential recommendation that the Yucca Mountain site is suitable as a geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste might be premature.
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) requires the DOE to submit an application for license to the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission within a statutory time frame of 5 to 8 months from the date of the site recommendation. In a September 2001 reassessment of the nuclear waste program, Bechtel SAIC, the primary contractor for the Yucca Mountain Project, stated that the DOE would not be in a position to submit a license application to the NRC until January 2006 due to outstanding technical issues with the NRC and expected funding levels. While the site recommendation and the license application are separate processes as outlined in the NWPA and the DOE’s siting guidelines, essentially the same data will need to be used for both.
The GAO also concluded that the DOE will be unlikely to "achieve its goal of opening a repository at Yucca Mountain by 2010 and currently does not have a reliable estimate of when, and at what cost, such a repository can be opened." To address this, the DOE is investigating alternative approaches such as developing surface facilities for storing waste until the underground storage facilities can be constructed.
The GAO recommended that the Secretary of Energy defer making a site recommendation until the DOE is closer to submitting a license application, as it would put the DOE in a position to submit an acceptable application to the NRC within the statutory time frame, address outstanding technical issues which will affect the repository’s design and development schedule, and allow consideration of alternative approaches to developing a repository at Yucca Mountain. The GAO also recommended that the DOE reestablish and resume using a baseline for the nuclear waste program that accounts for all of the outstanding technical work needed to prepare an acceptable license application and the estimated schedule and cost to achieve this milestone. In response, the DOE stated that the GAO report "reflects a profound lack of understanding of the statutory and regulatory requirements based on an inaccurate depiction of their context, misstates the Department’s siting guidelines", and that the license applications is "expected to experience refinement and amendment during the licensing process." The DOE concluded that the information submitted to date is sufficient for a site recommendation. The report can be viewed at www.gao.gov.
The State of Nevada may be appealing to the U. S. Supreme Court regarding permanent water rights at the Yucca Mountain site.
The DOE is seeking permanent water rights at the site, but the State maintains that the suit by the DOE is premature, as the Yucca Mountain site has not been designated as a permanent repository for nuclear waste.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has sent the case back to U. S. District Judge Roger Hunt to determine whether the Nuclear Waste Policy Act supersedes the Nevada law that bars a nuclear dump in Nevada.
Source: Las Vegas Sun, 12/27/01
A Washington, D.C., federal appeals court has decided not to stay proceedings regarding Nevada’s challenge of radiation standards for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository.
In challenging the radiation standards, the State of Nevada claimed that the EPA did not do enough to protect the public health and safety or Nevada’s groundwater resources.
The federal appeals court said that Nevada must first seek an administrative stay from the EPA, but Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said that getting a remedy from the EPA "would be futile".
If the EPA refuses to hold up the standard, the federal court will be petitioned again.
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal, 12/27/01
Public hearings to address the potential site recommendation of Yucca Mountain as a geologic repository for nuclear waste were held October 3 and 10 at the Bristlecone Convention Center. The Department of Energy reopened the comment period until December 14, and a third hearing was held in Ely on December 8.
Approximately 17 people attended the hearings and provided testimony.
Ely City Mayor Bob Miller expressed concern that transportation has not been adequately addressed in the Yucca Mountain draft environmental impact statement and supplemental documents.
White Pine County Commission Chairman Cheryl Noriega stated that the White Pine County Impact Report should be considered by the Secretary of Energy in formulating a recommendation to the President.
Ely City Fire Chief Ross Rivera and Emergency Management Director Russ Peacock both expressed concerns about the potential transportation of nuclear waste through White Pine County and the limited resources available for emergency response personnel.
White Pine County Commissioner Kevin Kirkeby recommended that the Secretary of Energy delay the site recommendation until key technical issues have been resolved, the Department of Energy has developed a reliable estimate of when and at what cost the Yucca Mountain repository could be opened, and until the Secretary has reviewed the White Pine County Impact Report which outlines potential socioeconomic, transportation and environmental consequences should the Yucca Mountain site be approved.
On November 13, 2001 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission submitted their sufficiency comments to the Department of Energy.
As outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the NRC must provide the DOE with sufficiency comments which will be submitted to the President should the Secretary of Energy recommend the Yucca Mountain Site as a geologic repository.
The sufficiency comments must address the "extent to which the at-depth site characterization analysis and the waste form proposal for such site seem to be sufficient for inclusion in any application to be submitted by the Secretary for licensing of such site as a repository."
The NRC comments stress that they are not making any conclusions regarding the actual site suitability of Yucca Mountain but instead address whether sufficient information will exist should the DOE submit an application for license.
Within the sufficiency comments, the NRC stated that they "believe sufficient at-depth site characterization analysis and waste form proposal information, although not available now, will be available at the time of a potential license application such that development of an acceptable license application is achievable."
On December 14, 2001 the Department of Energy finalized the Yucca Mountain Site Suitability Guidelines, 10CFR Part 960 and 963. The rule "focuses on the criteria and methodology to be used for evaluating relevant geological and other related aspects of the Yucca Mountain site." The final rule is based on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s final rulemaking, 10 CFR 63, addressing the regulations for licensing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
The NRC’s rule, which became final on December 3, changes the technical requirements and criteria to be consistent with the final environmental standards set forth by the EPA. While not only outlining how the repository system at Yucca Mountain must perform, it also includes "licensing criteria; participation in license reviews by the State, affected units of local government and Indian Tribes; records and reporting; monitoring and testing programs; performance confirmation; quality assurance; personnel training and certification; and emergency planning."Back to top
The rulemakings, along with the Environmental Protection Acency’s environmental standards, which became final in June 2001, will assist the Secretary of Energy in determining the suitability of Yucca Mountain as an underground geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel.