Nuclear Regulatory Commission raps DOE impact study

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has criticized a Department of Energy study of potential impacts on Nevada from a high-level nuclear waste repository and echoed complaints made by state officials about a lack of detailed information.

The NRC will complete its analysis by Feb. 9, the end of the DOE's public comment period, but a preliminary review flagged 10 areas in the 1,400-page draft impact statement that the DOE released in August.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., a constant critic of any high-level nuclear waste repository in Nevada, said NRC comments show how flawed the DOE's work is, but warned that the NRC could help the Yucca Mountain project to win approval.

"Although the criticism is valid, the NRC is no friend of Nevada," Bryan said this morning. "This is a proverbial heads-up for the DOE."

The analysis, presented to the NRC's nuclear waste advisory board on Thursday, said the DOE failed to consider all possible effects to those living near Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the only site under study as the world's first high-level nuclear waste repository.

By law an environmental impact statement must include a specific analysis of potential harm, such as effects of such a massive project on property owners and land values, preferred routes and means of transportation or a private solution to nuclear waste storage, such as the proposal by the Skull Valley Goshute Indian tribe to store wastes on their reservation in Utah.

NRC staff member James Firth said the DOE also failed to meet with federal agencies and Nevada officials to hear their concerns.

The DOE also ignored local governments and Native American Indian tribes who expressed fears for their homes, businesses and lands. The federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, specifically requires federal agencies to measure such impacts from a proposed project such as Yucca Mountain.

Echoing the state, the NRC said the DOE failed to develop and detail the proposed construction and operation of a high-level nuclear waste repository.

Firth told the board that the analysis should help the DOE to avoid legal challenges to the impact statement. A final analysis will be presented in January to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is responsible for licensing a repository if Yucca Mountain passes scientific muster.

If the full commission approves its staff comments, they will become part of the DOE's record.

The DOE plans to consider all comments it receives before issuing a final impact report in November 2000. To date, the DOE has received more than 524 written comments, according to DOE's Project Manager Russ Dyer in Nevada.

The public also criticized the DOE for failing to present a clear, understandable analysis and for the lack of transportation details. There are no preferred routes or specific plans for shipping the wastes to Yucca Mountain.

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