Gibbons announces a Yucca summit

Gibbons announces a Yucca summit before inviting the participants

WASHINGTON — Gov. Jim Gibbons announced today he would be convening a Yucca Mountain summit.

That comes as news to some of the lawmakers potentially involved.

Gibbons wants to assemble Nevada’s congressional delegation, as well as state officials, in coming weeks to coordinate efforts to block the federal government’s proposed nuclear waste dump 90 miles north of Las Vegas.

“We must continue the fight against this ill-conceived project,” the governor said in a statement, “and I look forward to sitting down with everyone to ensure we’re doing everything we possibly can to protect health and economic well-being of all Nevadans.”

But most of the lawmakers in Washington had not yet been invited by the governor to the meeting.

Sen. John Ensign’s spokesman said the senator would hope to attend, if possible.

“Bringing everyone together on such an important issue to Nevada is worthy and will show a continued front against a flawed project based on the wrong policy for America,” said spokesman Tory Mazzola.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, a Democrat, “welcomes the Governor’s recognition that the Bush-McCain Yucca Mountain plan is a threat to Nevada families,” her spokesman David Cherry said, referring to the president and the presumed Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, who supports the dump.

The federal government this week submitted its application to build the dump to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a milestone of sorts for a long-delayed project. The submission sets up a potentially years-long battle between Nevada and the feds. Most Nevadans oppose locating the waste repository in their state.

Colorado had a nuke - once upon a time

Mothballed Fort St. Vrain plant never worked 'the way we wanted'

Gargi Chakrabarty

Saturday, June 7, 2008

The Rocky

The core containment vessel at the Fort St. Vrain nuclear reactor under construction in the late 1960s. The hexagonal structure is still visible in the photo below taken in May.

Darin Mcgregor / The Rocky

Jim Goodrich of Excel Energy is dwarfed by the concrete walls that once contained the reactor core at the Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant near Platteville, in Weld County. The plant closed in 1989 after prolonged shutdowns blamed on faltering mechanics made the operation too costly.

The radioactive remnants of Colorado's single attempt to generate power from a nuclear reactor are locked up in dry casks - 244, to be precise.

Buried in layers of concrete and steel designed to withstand a jetliner crash, each cylindrical cask holds six nuclear rods - spent fuel that was used to fire the state's only nuclear power plant, the Fort St. Vrain plant near Platte ville, before faltering mechanics led to its shutdown in 1989.

"We could never get the plant to work the way we wanted to during its decade of operation," said Mark Stutz, spokesman for Xcel Energy, the parent company of Public Service Co. of Colorado, which built the plant.

One problem is that the plant required a special type of nuclear fuel, a blend of uranium and thorium, not used by any of the other 110 nuclear reactors operating in the United States at that time. So Public Service Co. couldn't share the cost to produce the fuel, and it was clear that the cost of the fuel would become prohibitive.

Also, the $200 million plant functioned in fits and starts. The initial testing began in 1972, and the plant's first commercial power was distributed in 1976. But problems erupted soon after - on the non-nuclear side.

The plant, capable of generating 320 megawatts of electricity, experienced unplanned fluctuations forcing prolonged shutdowns and eventually became too costly to operate.

The decommissioning of the plant and removal of 14.7 metric tons of radioactive fuel was completed by 1992.

The fuel - 1,464 hexagonal blocks, each about 31 inches high and 14 inches across - was carted off to a nearby building where the blocks currently are stored in the graphite casks.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy manages the storage facility, which cost $22 million to build and requires $3 million a year to operate. It's not clear how long the nuclear waste will remain there, surrounded by bucolic farmlands just 35 miles north of Denver.

The deadline to ship out the waste is Jan. 1, 2035. According to a 1996 settlement between the DOE and Colorado, the federal agency has to pay fines of $15,000 per day if the waste doesn't leave Colorado by then.

The federal government is hoping to open up Yucca Mountain in Nevada to store the nation's nuclear waste.

Even if that should happen in the relatively near future, Colorado is down the priority list of shipments from various states. The spent fuel from Fort St. Vrain might not be moved until about 2020, speculated Ted Borst, facility manager of the Fort St. Vrain storage building.

Borst is an employee of CH2M Washington Group Idaho LLC, which has been subcontracted by the DOE to manage the storage facility.

"We have an agreement that the fuel will be moved by 2035," Borst said. "The DOE plans to honor the agreement, but that would depend on the opening date of Yucca Mountain."

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

WIPP to return another errant drum

WIPP to return another errant drum

From the Current-Argus

Article Launched: 06/06/2008 09:04:21 PM MDT

By Kyle Marksteiner
Current-Argus Staff Writer
CARLSBAD — Another drum of transuranic nuclear waste will be removed from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and returned to sender.
The drum, which contained a prohibited amount of liquid, will be removed from its underground location at WIPP and sent back to Los Alamos National Laboratory.
"The administrative record is not clean on this drum," said Dave Moody, the Department of Energy's Carlsbad Field Office Manager. "There is more liquid than is allowed by the permit for that container."
The drum was identified to have an excess amount of liquid during the characterization process in Los Alamos.
"When we find conditions that are in excess of permit conditions, we issue a non-conformance report on that container," Moody said.
The drum was tagged, both physically and electronically, as not conforming to the standards required for shipment to WIPP. But it was mistakenly placed in a standard waste box with three other drums for shipment to Carlsbad. Waste drums are sometimes placed together in "overpack" containers to prepare for shipment. An investigation into how the error occurred is ongoing.
The overpack container was shipped from Los Alamos and arrived in Carlsbad on May 21. The waste was disposed underground on May 28.
Moody said the issue was discovered by WIPP employees in Carlsbad Thursday afternoon.
"As employees normally go through and try to resolve these nonconformance reports on drums, this drum still had an open NCR (non-compliance report) and was disposed in the repository," he said.
Moody said the percentage of liquid in the entire overpack container met all permit requirements.
"We don't believe we have a permit violation issue, because of the fact that the liquid in the overall waste container does not exceed permit requirements," Moody said. "But rather than splitting hairs, we decided to remove it."
Shipments to WIPP have come to a halt. The container in question is nine rows back.
"We had some shipments en route and we allowed those to proceed to WIPP," said Casey Gadbury, National TRU Program director. "But we've suspended shipments to the site."
Shipments of transuranic waste to WIPP had resumed on May 7 after a two-week hiatus caused by a water line leak outside the waste handling building.
Moody noted that the incident was different from an incident last year, in which the wrong drum was sent from Idaho Falls to WIPP. New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry ultimately ordered the drum's removal and return to Idaho.
"This drum had undergone characterization, but it had not passed all the requirements," Moody said of the present circumstance. "This was the right drum, but unfortunately all the characterization activities were not closed out on this."
The drum will be returned to Los Alamos, Moody said, where liquid will be absorbed before the contents are returned to WIPP.
Last year's errant drum resulted in a $110,700 settlement with the NMED. The Department of Energy also had to remove the drum from 36 rows back, resulting in expenses of more than a million dollars, officials said.
The good news is that DOE now has experience removing contents from WIPP.
"All the mockups and training, as well as the decisions on where to position the waste as you move it out of the way, that will all be considered as we put together a retrieval plan," Moody said.
Moody said the DOE will conduct an extensive root cause analysis to make sure the recent issue isn't repeated in the future.
"We're committed to complying to all aspects of the permit," he said.
Environmentalist Don Hancock chastised Los Alamos for attempting to work too quickly to bring waste to WIPP.
"The source of the problem, in my view, is Los Alamos' incompetence on one hand and their hurry on the other," he said. "It sounds like there is no way this should have ever come to WIPP."
Hancock, with Albuquerque's Southwest Research and Information Center, also said he didn't understand why the error was not caught during a conformation process at Los Alamos.
"After the mistake in Idaho, things were done to make sure it didn't happen again," he said, noting that changes made in Idaho should have been made at other sites such as doing more to physically separate complaint and non-complaint drums.
"The good news is that (the DOE) is going in to get the waste out this time instead of waiting for an order to remove it," he said. "At least they've learned that lesson."
Hancock said he didn't feel the DOE's arguments that the percentage of liquid in the overpack container met all permit requirements would have been valid. For one thing, he noted, the permit requires removing as much liquid as possible from any container.
Curry said he found the report of improper handling at LANL and disposal at WIPP to be "very troubling."
"WIPP's state-issued permit includes strong disposal prohibitions on liquids to ensure that the repository will continue to operate properly and protect the health of New Mexicans long into the future," he said in a prepared statement. "I am pleased that WIPP plans to remove this drum voluntarily. NMED will conduct a full and thorough investigation of this incident including the potential of future enforcement actions."

NRC rejects Nevada's demand

Firm stays on Yucca Mountain case

NRC rejects Nevada's demand

WASHINGTON -- The law firm hired by the Department of Energy to handle Yucca Mountain licensing will remain on the job despite the protests of the state of Nevada.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected the state's demand that Morgan Lewis & Bockius be disqualified from the nuclear waste repository case.

Attorneys for Nevada argued the firm had irreparable conflicts of interest. At the same time it is helping the Department of Energy to build the nuclear site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, it also represents more than a dozen utility companies that have sued DOE because a repository has not been built yet.

But the four NRC commissioners on Thursday dismissed the complaint. They indicated the state's position was "nothing more" than "mere concern or speculation."

The commissioners said they would be concerned if evidence showed that Yucca license hearings would be compromised. But in this case, "no such showing has been made."

In a 10-page order, the commissioners also said they were reluctant to "interfere in arrangements between parties and their lawyers."

The commission's ruling was "not unexpected," said Martin Malsch, an attorney for Nevada. "We expected it would be a difficult decision for the commission." He said the state is studying its options on possible appeals.

"We are pleased with the commission's ruling," a DOE spokesman said.

The Department of Energy argued Morgan Lewis, a firm with more than 1,400 lawyers, had a different practice handling Yucca licensing from the one managing utility lawsuits.

The department said Morgan Lewis was the only firm with adequate experience for repository licensing.

DOE and Morgan Lewis in September signed for an initial contract period that runs through Dec. 31, 2011, for $47.7 million, with five succeeding one-year options. The total contract value could reach $109 million.

The department's inspector general's office reviewed the contract and said in April that DOE followed procedures to obtain conflict of interest waivers and to demand the firm erect "firewalls" to mitigate conflicts among lawyers handling the nuclear waste cases.

But the inspector said it was "disturbing" that DOE did not fully document its decision-making that led to the hiring.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.

Analysis: Growing talk of Iran attack

The BBC's Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, looks at increasing speculation that Iran may come under attack because of its nuclear programme.

The debate on Iran's nuclear intentions is heating up again, as is talk of attack

Last December American intelligence agencies said they had "high confidence" that in late 2003 Iran had stopped trying to build nuclear weapons.

That seemed to end much of the talk about an American - or Israeli - attempt to destroy the facilities that Iran has developed for what it insists is a purely peaceful nuclear programme.

Plenty of influential people in the Middle East, Europe and the United States think an attack on Iran would have consequences potentially as disastrous as the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It would also send oil prices, already through the roof, into orbit.

But the talk has started again. Negotiations with Iran - and sanctions against it - have not stopped it enriching uranium, which its critics say is being done to make a bomb.

In one of his first acts after he secured the Democratic nomination for president of the US, Senator Barack Obama told Aipac, America's most powerful pro-Israel lobby, that he would do everything in his power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

He repeated the word "everything" several times. Even allowing for the fact that he was also trying to dispel the impression that he was soft on Iran, it was strong language.

End of term

The American National Intelligence Estimate that was published in December 2007 was more nuanced than some of the headlines suggested.

It had only "moderate confidence" that Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program by the summer of 2007, and said "we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons".

Israel, among others, has never accepted that Iran has stopped trying to build them.

The international community has a duty and responsibility to clarify to Iran, through drastic measures, that the repercussions of their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons will be devastating Ehud Olmert Nuclear crisis refuses to go quiet Q&A: Iran and the nuclear issue

Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has been in Washington this week.

The day before Senator Obama addressed Aipac, Mr Olmert used some of his toughest public language yet about Iran to the same audience.

"The international community has a duty and responsibility to clarify to Iran, through drastic measures, that the repercussions of their continued pursuit of nuclear weapons will be devastating," he said.

The speculation is that President George W Bush and Prime Minister Olmert want to remove what they believe is a clear and present danger before they face their own political oblivion.

Mr Bush is finishing his time at the White House still dogged by the disaster of Iraq - and Mr Olmert faces disgrace over allegations of corruption.

'Dangerous conflict'

The talk has alarmed, among others, the former German Foreign Minister, Joshka Fischer.

Germany has, with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, taken the lead in talks with Iran about its nuclear plans.

Iran must understand that without a diplomatic solution in the coming months, a dangerous military conflict is very likely to erupt Joshka Fischer Former German FM

He wrote in the Israeli daily Haaretz this week that Messrs Bush and Olmert seem to have been planning to end the Iranian nuclear programme "by military, rather than by diplomatic means".

Mr Fischer fears that the Middle East is drifting towards a new great confrontation in 2008.

"Iran must understand that without a diplomatic solution in the coming months, a dangerous military conflict is very likely to erupt. It is high time for serious negotiations to begin," he said.

Scenario

One scenario being discussed by Israeli analysts is that there could be an attack, by Israel or by the Americans, after the US election in November and before the new president is inaugurated in January, with the tacit consent of the incoming president.

That might be easier if it is Senator Obama's Republican rival John McCain.

During the campaign for his party's nomination, he once sang "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beachboys' classic Barbara Ann.

In a less jocular moment, he said that the only thing worse than attacking Iran would be to allow it to have nuclear weapons.

Some pro-Israeli US analysts are arguing that Iran's response to an attack would not be as harsh as many have predicted.

This week Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei repeated that Iran did not want nuclear weapons. But he said it would continue to develop nuclear energy for daily life.

Those who have made their minds up about Iran are more likely to listen to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has once again predicted Israel's doom.

None of this means an attack on Iran is coming. But it is being discussed, and that is significant.

Comanche Nation official sentenced to prison

Anderson, 55, resigned from his post in March when he pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement in federal court in Oklahoma City.

U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron sentenced him to five months in prison and five months of home detention. Anderson also must pay more than $50,000 in restitution to the tribe.

He apologized Wednesday for abusing the tribe's trust in him.

"I did wrong, and I'm sorry,” Anderson said. "I've never been in a situation like this before, and I don't intend to be in this situation again.”

Attorney Ryland Rivas said Anderson was well regarded as police chief, but he made some mistakes — likely because he was never trained to handle his department's finances.

About the case

Anderson was accused of setting up a bank account without the tribe's approval in November 2004, according to court papers.

He deposited money given to the police department into the account, but spent the money on gambling, meals and gifts, prosecutors said. His actions cost the tribe more than $50,000.

U.S. Attorney John Richter said Anderson took that money to supplement his income as police chief, tarnishing the reputation of tribal law enforcement.

Richter said Anderson's abuse of power should be punished so that other people in such positions of authority won't be tempted to repeat his crime.

Idaho, Navy strike nuclear agreement

Idaho, Navy strike nuclear agreement

INL to store spent Naval nuclear fuel beyond original deadline

---

By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Some of Idaho's leading public officials on Wednesday joined representatives from the U.S. Navy to announce an agreement extending nuclear Navy waste management at the Idaho National Laboratory beyond 2035, the previous deadline for the Navy's nuclear waste to be removed from the state.

A 1995 settlement between Idaho, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Navy established parameters for the nuclear Navy's presence in Idaho from 1995 through 2035 and provided for 65 metric tons of spent nuclear waste to be stored at the INL, which is east of Arco. The new agreement, said Kathleen Trever, who helped negotiate the 1995 agreement and is working for Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter as a contract consultant, allows for an additional 9.75 metric tons beyond 2035.

"The framework of the 1995 settlement basically gave the government 40 years to open up a repository or find another way to deal with the fuel in Idaho," Trever said. "What this agreement does is when fuel comes in for research and examination, all of the Navy fuel from every aircraft that gets unloaded from aircraft carriers, submarines, all comes to Idaho so the Navy can examine performance categories."

While Idaho officials, including Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, expressed enthusiasm for the ongoing role Idaho will play in helping to bolster national security, as well as touting the limit established on nuclear waste allowed in the state beyond 2035, the state's nuclear watchdog, the Snake River Alliance, was not pleased.

"This has got to stop," said alliance Executive Director Andrea Shipley. "The people of Idaho will refuse to be the next best thing to Yucca Mountain, which as it is going right now will never open."

Shipley said it seems as if the extension of the agreement is to allow the nuclear Navy to continue to ship and store its waste in Idaho indefinitely beyond 2035.

Trever agreed that something needs to be done to meet the criteria set forth in the 1995 settlement.

"The country either needs to open a fuel repository or deal with the fuel in some other way," she said. "The original settlement agreement was silent about what would happen in Idaho after 2035, and the Navy wanted to make sure it had a long-term relationship with Idaho."

The nuclear Navy began operations at the Idaho National Laboratory in 1949, building the first nuclear submarine prototype for the USS Nautilus. In the intervening decades, the Navy built other prototypes and conducted training for personnel to operate reactors for submarines and surface ships.

Current Navy operations at INL focus on spent fuel examination and preparation for disposal in an as-yet unknown repository outside Idaho.

Shipley said the Naval Reactors Facility at the INL touts the improvements in nuclear Navy fuel that have dramatically decreased refueling requirements and, hence, the amount of spent fuel produced. She said that it is, however, likely that only a small percentage of spent fuel is now subjected to thorough examination and testing, which means the INL is more of a spent fuel storage facility.

Idaho's governor disagrees. He said the new agreement will prevent the state from becoming an indefinite repository.

"With appreciation for those who held this office before me, worked out the 1995 agreement with Navy officials and recognized the need to look to the future, this addendum renews Idaho's critical role in supporting nuclear energy and the Navy's national security mission," Otter said. "It ensures Idaho will help the Navy continue important research for its nuclear fleet while protecting Idaho from becoming a spent fuel repository by default."

In conjunction with the agreement, the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program plans to refurbish its facilities in Idaho for long-term operations.

"This agreement ... maintains Idaho's productive relationship with the Navy and keeps enforceable limits on spent fuel shipments, inventory and storage conditions," Wasden said.

A press release from Otter's office says the Navy's work in Idaho has contributed significantly to the U.S. nuclear fleet's effectiveness, with more than 139 million miles safely traveled, and a new generation of reactors that can operate without refueling for the life of a ship.

Navy officials also said they were pleased with the agreement.

"The Navy appreciates Idaho's important contributions to keeping our nuclear fleet operating safely and effectively as we perform our missions around the globe," said Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program Director Admiral Kirkland Donald. "We look forward to our continued partnership with Idaho."

Indian Point to store low-level waste

Indian Point to store low-level waste

Photo 1 of 1 | Zoom Photo +

Starting July 1, the Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan will have to store its low-level radioactive waste on-site.Times Herald-Record/JEFF GOULDING

By Alexa James

Times Herald-Record

June 06, 2008

BUCHANAN — In a few weeks, the Indian Point nuclear power plant will no longer ship low-level radioactive waste to a disposal facility in Barnwell, S.C.

In fact, it won't be shipping it anywhere because there's nowhere else to ship it. Starting July 1, Indian Point will have to store its waste somewhere on-site, indefinitely.

The radioactive trash in question is classified as Class B or C waste. This type of contaminated material may include small items, such as clothing worn by workers at the power plant, or major mechanical parts, including nuclear reactor vessels and steam generators.

What is low-level radioactive waste?

According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, low-level radioactive waste includes items that have become contaminated with radioactive material or have become radioactive through exposure to neutron radiation.

This waste typically includes contaminated protective shoe covers and clothing, wiping rags, mops, filters, reactor water treatment residues, equipment and tools, luminous dials, medical tubes, swabs, injection needles, syringes and laboratory animal carcasses and tissues.

The most intensely radioactive wastes are typically found in water treatment residues, discarded parts from nuclear reactors (such as reactor vessels and steam generators) and small gauges containing radioactive material.

Class A waste generally contains lower concentrations of radioactive material than Class B and C wastes.

Barnwell, S.C., is the only facility currently accepting Class B and C wastes. Starting July 1, it will only accept waste from three states: South Carolina, Connecticut and New Jersey. Current Barnwell customers from New York will now need to store their Class B and C waste on-site or find another location.

The 235-acre disposal facility in Barnwell, built and operated by a company called EnergySolutions, has been accepting waste — more than 28 million cubic feet of it — from across the country for more than 35 years.

Thirty-nine states, including New York, currently ship waste to South Carolina. Indian Point contributes approximately 100 cubic feet of trash annually, plant spokeswoman Robyn Bentley said.

Beginning next month, Barnwell will only accept waste from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut — members of the Atlantic Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact. The rest will have to fend for themselves.

Entergy Nuclear, the New Orleans-based company that owns and operates Indian Point, plans to keep its waste in a storage building attached to reactor Unit 3. The storage building, which was built in the 1980s by the plant's previous owners, might need to undergo some upgrades, Bentley said.

"It's really not a headache," she added, "It's something that we've anticipated."

The rest of the state, and the country, might not have it so good. Nuclear power plants aren't the only businesses that produce radioactive waste.

Hospitals, factories and laboratories will also be looking for new places to put their trash, and in the run-up to Barnwell's change, no new facilities were constructed.

ajames@th-record.com

Indian Point reactor restarted; 6 sirens fail

Indian Point reactor restarted; 6 sirens fail

By Alexa James

Times Herald-Record

June 06, 2008

Buchanan — Control room operators at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan returned reactor Unit 2 to service Wednesday night, a plant spokeswoman said.

Unit 2, one of two active reactors at the plant, was shut down Wednesday morning to repair a part that controls the voltage in the unit's main electric generator.

Spokeswoman Robyn Bentley said Wednesday's shutdown was a planned event, not an emergency.

In another development, six of 156 warning sirens failed Wednesday during the plant's quarterly emergency drill.

Two of the faulty sirens were located in Orange County, one in Rockland County and three were in Westchester County. All the sirens tested in Putnam County performed properly, Bentley said. The sirens tested belonged to Indian Point's existing warning system.

A new siren system has been in development since 2005, when the Energy Policy Act mandated a warning system that could function during a power outage. The plant's old siren system would not work during a blackout.

Entergy Nuclear, the company that owns and operates Indian Point, has already missed two deadlines to replace the existing system. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission imposed more than $800,000 in fines for missed deadlines. Entergy's next deadline is Aug. 14. Bentley said the plant will be testing the new sirens throughout the summer to prepare for the deadline.

ajames@th-record.com

BERKLEY: YUCCA MOUNTAIN STILL BROKEN, PRICE TAG STILL GROWING

Progress Claims Undercut by Lengthy Delays, Transportation Dangers Remain

(Washington D.C. – June 3, 2008) Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) today responded to remarks by Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman touting the submission of a License Application (LA) for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump 90 minutes outside Las Vegas. The document was sent today by the Department of Energy (DOE) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for review. Bodman spoke at a news conference in Washington, D.C. this afternoon.

“The real news here is that after more than 20 years, Yucca Mountain is still decades behind schedule and its price tag has grown to $80 billion,” said Berkley. “The Bush White House knows the sun is about to set on its dreams of turning Nevada into a nuclear waste dump. As a result, they are desperate to show progress is being made, even as Yucca’s timetable has now slipped to 2020 or beyond. The clock is ticking on the future of Yucca Mountain and one thing is certain, come next January, there will be a new occupant in the Oval office. I hope that change will mark the end of this failed project once and for all,” said Berkley.

Berkley also responded to a call by Secretary Bodman for action on a so-called “fix Yucca” bill that would weaken regulations governing the dump and loosen Congressional controls over spending on the proposed repository.

“Secretary Bodman again called for action on a ‘fix Yucca’ bill that would gut health and safety standards for the dump and would tie the hands of Congress when it comes to oversight of spending. This reckless legislation has gone nowhere since being introduced and I will continue working with Senator Reid and my colleagues in the House to make sure it stays that way.”

Legislation cosponsored by Berkley would allow nuclear waste to be safely stored at power plant sites hardened for protection, eliminating the need for waste to be moved to Yucca Mountain.

“Nuclear waste can be safely stored on-site for the next 100 years. This solution costs a small fraction of the price tag for dumping this toxic garbage in Nevada and avoids the danger of an accident or terrorist incident involving shipments of radioactive waste,” said Berkley.

Nevada demands end to Yucca project

Nevada demands end to Yucca project

Click to Enlarge State Nuclear Projects chief Bob Loux and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto answer questions from the media Wednesday about the fight against the Yucca Mountain repository on Wednesday. Cathleen Allison/ Nevada Appeal Browse and Buy Nevada Appeal Photos

Geoff Dornan
Appeal Capitol Bureau,
June 5, 2008, 4:01 AM



The state of Nevada on Wednesday asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject the Department of Energy's application to license Yucca Mountain, calling for an end to the 25-year-old effort to put the proposed nuclear waste dump in Southern Nevada.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said the application contains numerous violations of the application requirements - starting with the fact that the Department of Energy doesn't even have a valid radiation safety standard.

"The license application cannot be reviewed or docketed without an EPA radiation standard, the fundamental public health and safety benchmark," she said.

And the license application, filed Tuesday, was legally required to be filed by September 2002, she said.

Bob Loux, who has headed Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects since the inception of the Yucca Mountain battle in the 1980s, said some of the nuclear power companies have softened in their support for burying thousands of tons of high-level waste in Yucca Mountain. Once buried, it would be almost impossible to retrieve the waste, he said.

"They want the fuel around for reprocessing for the nuclear renaissance," he said, referring to the recent push for more nuclear power plants to meet U.S. energy demands.

There is one strong positive in the Department of Energy filing, Loux said.

"This will be the first time in the 30-year history of the project that the Department of Energy will be legally accountable for their safety claims."

He said Nevada officials have seen the Department of Energy repeatedly change its rules, hide information from the state and use other improper tactics to try to push past the state's opposition to the dump.

He said he doesn't think the Department of Energy can convince the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the project is safe.

He said energy officials don't even want to install the drip shields over the storage casks despite the fact their data predicts that without the shields, the repository could fail and leak radioactive matter into groundwater in less than 1,000 years.

If the commission denies the application, both Loux and Masto said that's the end of the fight.

Masto said the agency is pushing hard for the project before a new presidential administration takes office.

Loux agreed.

"(The Department of Energy) is the only entity that is championing this cause," he said. "They decided to get this thing in as quick as they can."

No matter what, the process has a long way to go unless the commission rejects the application out of hand. He said his agency and the state expect to file up to 600 specific challenges, each of which would have to be heard by the NRC.

The Goshute Tribe in Utah, Loux pointed out, applied to become a repository site. The process took eight years to finish.

Nevada has spent probably $26 million in state funds and $128 million in federal money fighting Yucca Mountain, while the Department of Energy, Loux said, has spent upwards of $8 billion on Yucca Mountain and $11 billion overall.



Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.

Nevada AG challenges Yucca Mountain application

By Mary Manning · June 4, 2008 · 7 PM

A day after the Bush administration dropped its 17-volume Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository application at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's door, Nevada challenged the bid to build at the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said today the Energy Department submitted "an unauthorized and legally deficient" license application. She asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in a 36-page brief, not to schedule the license application for a hearing that could last four years.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced the application would stand up to challenges from "anywhere" on Tuesday.

In Washington, my colleague Lisa Mascaro reports that the Nevada congressional delegation promised today to send a letter to the commission asking that it immediately reject the application.

Meanwhile, a coalition Yucca Mountain advocates that includes of public utility commissioners and waste haulers, said in Washington they believe this week's action will open a new phase of support for the Nevada repository in Washington.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has to decide whether the proposed

repository design would protect public health, safety and the environment

for up to a million years.

Nevada's petition notes that the license application submitted by the Energy

Department is six years overdue and "completely unauthorized."

By law the application was due by October 2002, Cortez Masto said. Congress overrode a veto by then Gov. Kenny Guinn on July 10, 2002, approving President Bush's selection of Yucca Mountain. The Energy Department then had 90 days to submit its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A month later a federal appeals court said the Environmental Protection Agency radiation standard did not protect the public lng enough.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has 120 days, or four months, for an initial review of the application.

Is Ted Kennedy’s Cancer Linked to Cell Phone Use

\ Is Ted Kennedy’s Cancer Linked to Cell Phone Use?

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 10:00 AM By: Sylvia Booth Hubbard Article Font Size

Senator Ted Kennedy’s diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor is, once again, stirring debate over the safety of cell phones. Kennedy’s brain tumor, called a glioma, is the type critics have associated for years with the use of cell phones. Prominent neurosurgeons have stated they do not use cell phones held next to their ears. “I use it on the speaker-phone mode,” said Dr. Vini Khurana, a prominent researcher and an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University. “I do not hold it to my ear.” Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent and a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital admitted that, he too, used an earpiece. CTIA – the Wireless Association and the FDA both say that studies show cell phones are not a health risk. Other experts disagree. They point to research that indicates a link between cell phones and three types of tumors: glioma (the type Senator Kennedy has); cancer of a salivary gland near the ear called the parotid; and acoustic neuroma, which is a tumor found near the ear. An Israeli study published last year found a 58 percent increase in risk for parotid tumors among people who relied heavily on their cell phones. And a Swedish study found the risk for glioma and acoustic neuroma doubled after ten years of heavy use. Since cell phones are relatively new, there hasn’t been a chance for long-term studies that will settle the question of whether there is truly a link between cell phone use and brain tumors. Some critics express particular concern for children who begin using cell phones as kids and continue throughout their lives. “More and more kids are using cell phones,” said Dr. Paul Rosch, clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. “They may be much more affected. Their brains are growing rapidly and their skulls are thinner.” Dr. Khurana admits that cell phones are convenient and can save lives in an emergency, but he says that “there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumors,” adding that malignant brain tumors are “a life-ending diagnosis. “It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking,” he said. © 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.