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October 7, 2005
Caliente mayor frets over Yucca Mountain licensing
By STEVE TETREAULT
Phillips and a Nye County consultant attending a Yucca Mountain conference pressed an Energy Department speaker for signs of progress in the repository program that might buoy backers in Nevada. Phillips said Nevadans' perceptions have been affected by last year's presidential campaign in which Yucca Mountain was an issue, coupled with licensing delays and the disclosure this spring of controversial emails that mention possible document falsification. He said it is harder for supporters to argue that Yucca Mountain is a certainty, and would bring jobs and economic benefits. "Those factors together has caused the 'inevitability concept' that many of us keep promoting to our friends to go down a little," Phillips said. "Everybody has to understand this impacts the supportive Nevadan's ability to bring others into the fold with a constructive approach," Phillips said. "Every time there is a slip, believability gets challenged," said Cash Jaszczak, a Las Vegas-based consultant to Nye County. The Nevadans and industry advocates of the proposed nuclear waste repository sought clues from Eric Knox, associate director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. But Knox said he could not offer new timelines for the delayed project as DOE works through licensing and technical issues. "It's quality over quickness," Knox said. "But if we get to the right quality, the quickness will follow." Any progress on the proposed repository continues to be slow and uncertain, Yucca advocates were told at the conference. About 30 executives representing nuclear utilities and waste transportation companies, and several rural Nevada repository proponents, met to assess the project. They were told: It could be next summer or fall before the Energy Department sends the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a repository license application to move the program forward, according to William Reamer, NRC director of the high level waste division. Reamer said appeals at the NRC over whether the Energy Department should post draft applications to a licensing database may extend to the end of the year, effectively delaying the project. DOE officials have said they would not file a final application until six months after the database is certified. Congress is unlikely to add Yucca Mountain provisions to energy bills being passed to help Hurricane Katrina recovery, said Clint Williamson, a professional staff member on the Senate Energy Committee. With lawmakers wanting to speed passage of Katrina bills, legislation to help Yucca Mountain "would prove to be very difficult to get through the Senate," Williamson said. Not the least of the opposition would come from Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "We all share the same concern. The program seems to be stalled," said Charles Pray, a nuclear waste adviser to the state of Maine and co-chairman of a Yucca Mountain advocacy group. Some officials said there is an added aura of uncertainty how Yucca Mountain might be affected by an Energy Department nuclear waste reprocessing initiative said to be in the works. The Energy Daily newsletter reported in July the office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management - which manages Yucca Mountain - was among DOE branches participating in the initiative. DOE spokesman Craig Stevens said Wednesday he could not confirm the participation but added, "individuals throughout this department are working on ways to expand the use of nuclear energy throughout the country and the implications of that." Paul Golan, Yucca Mountain acting director, also is conducting a comprehensive review of the project that could result in other changes. |
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