Bryan wants extension on Yucca Mountain EIS

The draft environmental impact statement due out soon should be subject to more than three months of public review, said Bryan, D-Nev.

"It is absolutely unconscionable that the Department of Energy wants to limit public comment on an issue that has so many potential health and safety ramifications for the citizens of Nevada," Bryan said. "All we are asking the DOE to do is provide the public with an adequately long public comment period."

Bryan said in a letter to Lake Barnett, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management at DOE, that the proposed nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain is the largest geologic experiment in history.

It is unrealistic to believe affected communities and local governments can thoroughly review and make informed comments in just 90 days, Bryan said.

"Decisions made by the department as part of the EIS process will affect the public health and safety for thousands of years so it is not unreasonable for the DOE to give the public and local officials more than 90 days to respond," he said.

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