Friday, April 18, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Industry official questions oversight

Regulators' questions distracting Energy Department, repository supporter says

WASHINGTON -- A nuclear industry official on Thursday urged government regulators to set aside some of their questions about Yucca Mountain until the Energy Department applies for a license to build a nuclear waste repository at the Nevada site.

Steven Kraft, waste management director of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said some activities DOE scientists are conducting by direction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission "frankly are not helping preparations of a license application."

Kraft questioned the usefulness of some of the Yucca Mountain audit reviews that NRC performs. He said some meetings between NRC staff and DOE officials take place "only because they are scheduled."

NRC questions about Yucca Mountain should be put aside and revived after the Energy Department files for permission to bury nuclear waste at the site, Kraft said.

"NRC needs to let DOE work internally in developing a license application and its answers to questions," Kraft said. "The DOE cannot effectively conduct itself if it is constantly responding to things that are not on point simply because NRC staff decides ... it wants to ask questions."

Kraft, whose group is a supporter of the Yucca project, added distractions might affect the quality of DOE's license application, which officials have said they plan to submit by December 2004.

The industry official's views were offered at an NRC regulatory conference. Several NRC officials at the meeting countered Kraft's view.

Janet Schleuter, chief of the NRC high-level waste branch, said that NRC staff will be required to write a safety report on the repository and that the meetings with the Energy Department enable staff members to understand the repository proposal.

She said that could save the NRC significant time when it weighs the license application. The agency will take three or four years to review the application.

Federal law calls for NRC staff to monitor the Energy Department's work before a license is submitted.

The two agencies have developed a list of 293 technical matters to be addressed as the license application is being formed.

DOE officials said 75 of the issues have been completed.

Kraft said the NRC and DOE should halt interaction on the items and carry over the remainder as part of the licensing process.

"At some point the NRC staff should simply stop asking questions, so DOE can answer what they believe is the right material in the license application," Kraft said.

Asked for DOE's view of Kraft's remarks, Yucca Mountain Project official Christopher Kouts said, "We're doing what we need to do to communicate with the NRC. We're doing our best to support these interactions and will continue to do so."