Geologist says study could determine suitability

Jerry Szymanski contends hot ground water has previously risen inside the mountain and could do it again, making unsafe conditions for high-level radioactive waste. A more detailed look at minerals and their distribution inside the mountain will disprove two scientific panels that have discounted his theory, Szymanski contends.

"I want to have the jokers from the (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) Technical Review Board and the National Academy of Sciences state under oath for what they are stating in the papers. And I want to have them subject to cross-examination in a judicial process," he said.

Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied by the Energy Department for permanent storage of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. The waste would include spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants.

His comments came less than a week after the Technical Review Board said Szymanski - a consultant for the state Attorney General's office - does not have a credible case.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Yucca Mountain Project, Allen Benson, said the money needed to study Szymanski's theory might be available to University of Nevada scientists and others as part of a five-year, $40 million agreement signed last month by DOE officials and Nevada's University and College System.

Nevada officials have vigorously protested the development of the Yucca Mountain site, saying the state is being unfairly targeted as the lone candidate, and the site is unstable for the dangerous waste.

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