The Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed to hear six of the seven contentions filed by Nye County, during its upcoming hearings on Yucca Mountain.

Nye County concerns over the release of natural-occurring radon during construction; assurances air force overflights will be restricted; water infiltration into the repository if the climate becomes wetter and concerns about seepage through the 1,000 feet to the water table below the repository if the canisters corrode, were accepted for consideration.

But the NRC won't hear a contention by Nye County that the license application failed to include requirements of the National Incident Management System in the emergency planning.

The Obama administration has cut funds for Yucca Mountain to $196.8 million for the 2010 fiscal year, after $288 million in 2009 and over $400 million during the Bush administration.

President Obama, in his 2009 budget announcement, said, "the Yucca Mountain program will be scaled back to those costs necessary to answer inquiries from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, while the administration devises a new strategy toward nuclear waste disposal."

Nevertheless, Energy Secretary Steven Chu wants the review of the license application to continue. It is expected to take at least three years, after which the NRC could decide to issue the license, deny it or request modifications.

Nye County was admitted as an intervening party in the NRC hearings.

Other parties admitted include Clark, Mineral, Lander, Esmeralda, White Pine and Churchill counties, Inyo County, Calif., the states of Nevada and California, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe.

The contention over neglecting the National Incident Management System was filed jointly with Churchill, Esmeralda, Lander and Mineral counties and Inyo County, Calif., Nye County said it could be easily corrected by the DOE.

"Nye asserts that it and other off-site agencies are unable to plan properly and respond to on-site emergency actions as required," the NRC order states

But the NRC said that contention is beyond the scope of the license proceedings.

"Whether requirements of other federal agencies have been met is not a proper subject for this NRC proceeding," the order said.

Nye County said the DOE should be required to furnish a description of the way it will notify off-site emergency responders; institute a communications system that provides data voice and video transmission through the repository; ensure integrated communications with off-site emergency responders; provide quarterly communication checks and biennial on-site exercises for simulated emergencies and have a Nye County representative on the Joint Information Center staff.

Nye County, which has a policy of constructive engagement with the DOE on Yucca Mountain, filed only seven contentions, compared to 229 contentions filed by the state of Nevada. The county said in its synopsis, "We feel the DOE project is technically feasible and with the changes outlined in our contentions will be safe for the citizens of Nye County and Nevada."

The seventh and probably the most revealing Nye County contention that will be admitted, states: "The EIS prepared ... did not address all of the potential groundwater impacts in areas downstream from the Yucca Mountain site."

That contention cites National Environmental Policy Act requirements. Nye County states the NRC adopted the DOE environmental impact statement to the extent practical. But the 2002 EIS and the 2008 supplemental EIS for Yucca Mountain failed to characterize potential contaminant releases to groundwater and surface discharges, Nye County said.

The first contention said Nye County wants more studies of how much water could seep through the 1,000-foot upper barrier of the mountain to the repository and the chemistry of the water in the event the climate changes and rainfall increases. That could increase corrosion of the waste containers and movement of the radioactive material.

The second contention addresses a computer model developed by DOE to predict how fast the radionuclides would travel through 1,000 feet of rock between the repository and the water table and the rock extending 13 miles to the Yucca Mountain boundary if it escaped from the waste containers. Additional testing and monitoring is needed to address uncertainties in the models used to evaluate that lower natural barrier, Nye County asserts.

DOE didn't include activities in confirming its model on how fast the radionuclides could be transported to locations off site, Nye County states in its third contention.

The county states in its fourth contention, "DOE has failed to fully identify, examine and evaluate the effect of construction and operational activities upon air quality and personnel in the general environmental around Yucca Mountain as required by regulation."

Specifically, DOE hasn't adequately considered the radiation dose to the public from naturally-occurring radon as a result of repository construction, the county said, which are emitted by all mining operations. Those radon levels would be much higher than from the handling of used fuel and high level waste, the county states.

Another contention filed jointly with the five other counties said DOE has no basis for assuming the U.S. Air Force will restrict activities in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain.

Administrative judges agreed to hear 299 out of 318 contentions filed by all the parties involved. Bruce Breslow, executive director of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the news was "a huge victory for the state of Nevada."