Geologist says hot fluids found in Yucca rocks, age of deposits still uncertain

Rock samples from Yucca Mountain contain "watery fluids with elevated temperatures" but more studies are needed to determine if the findings might impact the suitability of the site for disposal of nuclear waste, a geologist reported Tuesday.

The two-year study, which is in its early stages, was commissioned to resolve a dispute over whether thousands of years ago water might have been forced from deep beneath the proposed repository, and whether such an upheaval might occur again.

Geologist Jean Cline, of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas who has been studying thin slivers of rock from the proposed nuclear waste site, said it will take months of additional testing to determine the age of the rock, a critical element in determining whether renewed water activity might take place at the site.

"We do not yet know the temperature of this fluid, the time the fluid moved through the rocks, or whether the fluid rose from depth or descended from the surface," Cline said at a news conference.

Opponents of the proposed waste dump have argued that if it is found that water in recent geological time was forced upward by an earthquake into where the nuclear waste is to be kept, it could happen again and rule out the Yucca site for such storage.

The Energy Department and scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have been skeptical about the theory, suggesting whatever fluids were present came from the surface above the proposed waste burial site 1,000 feet below ground.

Separately, foes of water-pumping rights for the proposed nuclear waste dump 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas wrapped up their arguments Tuesday at a hearing being held by state Engineer Mike Turnipseed.

The opponents concluded a day early, and Turnipseed said that means the U.S. Department of Energy can start presenting its case for the water rights on Wednesday, ahead of schedule.

The DOE had planned to argue its case next week. But despite the speedup, the session which started on Monday is still expected to continue next Monday in Turnipseed's Carson City office.

Without the water rights, DOE officials say project work would be difficult - but wouldn't necessarily end.

The DOE is currently relying on a temporary permit that expires in 2002. Before the temporary permit was issued, the DOE trucked water to the site 100 miles north of Las Vegas.

Water right foes who testified Tuesday included Bob Loux, head of the state Nuclear Projects Agency, who said Nevadans overwhelmingly oppose the high-level nuclear waste project.

Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams also argued against permits for the water, saying they wouldn't be in Nevadans' best interests because of the potential contamination of ground water and adverse effects to Nevada's tourist-dependent economy.

The DOE maintains that all state standards for the water rights can be met. The federal agency says waste would sealed in metal containers within rock tunnels about 1,000 feet underground and 1,000 feet above the water table.

While the DOE concedes there's no absolute certainty that waste will be totally sealed for thousands of years, the agency says the Yucca Mountain site appears workable.

Yucca Mountain is the only site the DOE is studying for storage of the nation's high-level nuclear waste. Its efforts have been heavily backed by the nuclear energy industry.

Nevada, backed by various environmental groups, has been battling the DOE since a long-term storage facility was first proposed for southern Nevada more than a decade ago.

As the debate continues, lethal commercial waste continues to stack up at nuclear plants around the nation - now more than 42,000 tons, mostly in cooling pools not designed for permanent safekeeping.

Critics argue it makes more sense to improve storage of most high-level waste where it is currently located than to build the site at Yucca Mountain.

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