A new five-year agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy has only been proposed, but Nye County commissioners last week felt confident enough to approve 16 contracts worth $1.26 million for the Independent Scientific Investigation Program of the Yucca Mountain project for the next year.

Nye County officials signed a five-year agreement with the DOE in April 2002 to fund the program. The Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office has $1.5 million in carry-over funds for the program, until the proposed $2.5 million in new funding is available.

The new five-year proposal is meant to reduce uncertainty in defining pathways of contaminants that may occur from Yucca Mountain and travel times in the ground water from the proposed repository to Amargosa Valley.

The knowledge will help in planning mitigation measures to protect human health, safety and the environment, interim Nuclear Waste Repository Project Office Director Dave Swanson said in a memo to commissioners.

"It is proposed to award these professional service contracts without competition," Swanson wrote. The awards will be based on previous experience.

Swanson said that, on average, these contractors have worked for Nye County at least seven years each. "These contractors provide a very valuable service to Nye County and it would be damaging to the program to lose their services," he wrote.

The swarm of contractors, their duties and their allotted amounts include:

John Campanella, Norwest Corp., will receive up to $170,000 for tracer tests, which include supervising test wells to refine a conceptual model of the hydro-geologic system downslope from Yucca Mountain;

Tom Buqo, a hydro-geologist, will receive up to $150,000. Buqo was the principal investigator for water-level monitoring, including identifying trends in groundwater levels in Amargosa Valley and Pahrump Valley;

TerraSpectra Geomatics will produce maps and maintain the Web site and the license support network Web site. The company will receive up to $150,000;

Jamie Walker, of Jamieson Geological Inc., a managing geologist, trained geologists and technicians for the project, served as a support geologist in drilling and sampling, as well as helping plan new bore holes and wells. He will be paid up to $145,000;

Frank D'Agnese, of Earth Knowledge LLC, data management systems, former principal investigator of the Death Valley Regional Groundwater Flow System, will receive up to $100,000. He evaluated groundwater modeling supervised by Buqo and made recommendations in defining the hydro-geologic framework.

George Danko, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, Mackay School of Mines, performed ventilation models showing the beneficial cooling and drying effects of natural ventilation at Yucca Mountain. He will receive $90,000 to continue studying air flows;

Bob Wilcoxon, geologist III, provided logging support for the Early Warning Drilling Program, performed technical oversight on geologic samples and developed water level monitoring networks. He will receive up to $90,000;

Mary Ellen Giampaoli, in charge of environmental compliance, has obtained the necessary permits and documentation for well construction, testing and surface excavation, as well as site reclamation. She helped prepare a health and safety plan. Giampaoli will receive up to $70,000;

Arturo Woocay and Aline James, University of Texas, El Paso, geochemistry graduate students, will help in groundwater chemistry sampling, for a fee of up to $66,000. Woocay used statistical models to analyze ion water chemistry data near Yucca Mountain and identify groundwater flow pathways that effect Amargosa Valley;

John Walton, chairman of the environmental science and engineering program at the University of Texas, El Paso, helped develop a water chemistry model for the repository barrier system that demonstrated the potential for corrosive brine development. He will be paid up to $55,000;

James Foster, a lab technician who conducted hydrologic tests on core samples, will receive up to $50,000;

Sarah Morealli, University of Pittsburgh a structural geology graduate student, will be paid up to $42,000 for structural geology support.

Thomas Anderson, a University of Pittsburgh professor of geology, will be paid up to $40,000. Anderson investigated geologic characteristics and identified potential fast pathways for groundwater flow of contaminants to the Amargosa Desert area.

Ed Huskinson, a geologist III, provided geologic logging support for the Early Warning Drilling Program, characterizing minerals. He will receive up to $30,000.

Ken Hooks, of Caruthers and Associates Inc., a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission quality assurance engineer, will continue revising the quality assurance documents and will be paid up to $10,000.

William Belke, a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission quality engineer, will continue monitoring the quality assurance plan and will be paid up to $10,000;