A public hearing to gather comments on the problematic environmental impact statement for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, or GNEP -- which could determine if the U.S. Department of Energy will pursue recycling nuclear waste -- will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the Bob Ruud Community Center.

The public hearing will follow an open house at 6 p.m.

The GNEP is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy designed to provide a safe, secure and sustainable expansion of nuclear energy both domestically and internationally.

The program seeks to promote technologies that support atomic energy while reducing the affects of spent nuclear fuel disposal and nuclear proliferation.

The DOE, through the program, envisions transforming the disposal of spent nuclear fuel from disposal in a repository like Yucca Mountain to recycling. The environmental impact statement provides an analysis of the environmental affects of expanding nuclear power in the U.S. by both disposing of the wastes in repositories or recycling it.

The EIS concludes recycling offers a greater opportunity to reduce the requirements of storing nuclear waste in a repository and will reduce hazards associated with disposal. However, recycling will require more capacity for other radioactive wastes, the study concludes, and could result in higher transportation and health affects during the operation.

The GNEP Infrastructure Development Working Group held its third meeting in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 8-9, 2008, involving 70 participants from 22 countries. A workshop was held to discuss how to manage radioactive waste in ways to meet the common concerns of the partners.

Part of the goal of GNEP is to remove the need for countries to develop their own nuclear enrichment or reprocessing facilities.

Comments on the draft EIS can be sent up until March 16 to Frank Schwartz at the following address:

GNEP EIS Document Manager, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C., 20585-0119. They may also be sent by fax to 1-866-489-1891 or online at www.regulations.gov.

The Web site for more information is www.gnep.energy.gov.