Russian scientist backs Yucca theory

An alarming theory that ground water at Yucca Mountain could someday overwhelm any nuclear waste stored there and threaten human life throughout the Southwest received a scientific boost Monday.

Yuri Dublyansky, a geochemist at the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented his latest findings to the Geological Society of America meeting in Toronto this week.

Dublyansky has studied crystals from within the mountain and written several reports on the potential for deep, hot water rising in the mountain. Dublyansky said his latest analysis -- completed four days ago from samples of crystals found inside the 5-mile tunnel drilled into Yucca Mountain, indicate that deep, hot waters periodically rise within the mountain.

By studying gas contained in bubbles within the crystals, Dublyansky has been able to pinpoint the origin of the waters that formed them.

"The results are quite exciting to me," Dublyansky said in a telephone interview from Toronto. His paper is under review for publication in the scientific journal Chemical Geology.

The theory that "hydrothermal activity," which is hot, deep water that rises periodically from within the Earth, is a factor at Yucca Mountain was first posed 15 years ago by geologist Jerry Szymanski when he worked for the U.S. Department of Energy on the nuclear waste project.

The DOE is studying Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the nation's burial site for high-level nuclear waste. DOE scientists plan to conduct joint studies with Dublyansky as early as next year.

If deep water rises inside the repository's rock block, containers holding high-level nuclear waste -- 77,000 tons -- could burst, contaminating the air and ground water, Szymanski says.

"Yucca Mountain is invaded by minerals clearly, without any doubt, by hot waters," Szymanski said Monday.

The former DOE geologist maintains that the DOE is trying to cover up scientific facts at Yucca Mountain that could spell doom for future generations. He says crystals found inside the mountain prove that hydrothermal activity has existed there for centuries.

However, the DOE and a presidential review panel have rejected Szymanski's theory. The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, issued its report in July saying there is not enough evidence to support the theory.

The DOE hopes to accept highly radioactive wastes from commercial power reactors and defense sites at Yucca Mountain by 2010.

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