Fallout over Yucca Mountain nuclear site

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Nevada officials planned to press ahead with their efforts to halt the development of a national nuclear waste repository in their state despite an advisory board's conclusion that there were no obvious reasons to exclude the proposed Yucca Mountain site.

The Department of Energy revealed late Thursday that the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board had found "no individual technical or scientific factor ... that would automatically eliminate Yucca Mountain from consideration as the site of a permanent repository" for the nation's nuclear waste.

"The board's review of the 24 years of scientific study at Yucca Mountain is important, as is the decision on whether or not to address the country's nuclear waste problem at this time, given the impacts to national security, environmental protection, and continued clean-up of nuclear waste," said Under Secretary of Energy Robert Card.

Nevada officials, however, were still prepared to fight Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's formal recommendation to the president to turn Yucca Mountain into a central storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste from around the country. The state Thursday asked a federal judge to set aside Abraham's recommendation, which must be approved by President Bush and then by Congress.

While the administration says something needs to be done with the radioactive materials currently stored at 131 sites, Nevada insists that the scientific assessment of Yucca Mountain is incomplete.

"It appears that the Department of Energy is the only entity familiar with the facts at Yucca Mountain that does not see your decision as premature," Gov. Kenny Guinn said Thursday in a testy letter sent to Abraham.

"If environmental protection is DOE's main concern, perhaps the department should explain to Nevadans why we should tolerate an uncertainty factor of 10,000 in the radiation dose projections for the Yucca Mountain repository system," Guinn added. "Our slot machines have better odds than that."

Not to be outdone, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman told ABC Radio on Thursday that pushing Yucca Mountain through would be a political disaster for President Bush. He also accused Abraham of not giving the project an adequate review before announcing his recommendation.

"I don't think the guy spent an hour and a half on the whole project, and then recommends that it's a suitable ... repository for nuclear waste based on that kind of very inept analysis," Goodman fumed.

Much of the controversy over Yucca Mountain stems from the half-life of the materials, which will remain radioactive for generations and, critics say, vulnerable to any number of risks including floods, earthquakes and deterioration of the containers holding the waste.

Abraham and Card readily conceded that there were still too many unanswered questions about Yucca Mountain, however most of the questions dealt with long-term issues that could not be adequately addressed in the near future. They also agreed with the technical board's recommendation that the project be closely monitored during the lifetime of the Yucca Mountain repository, which is estimated at 100-300 years.

(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)