Friday, April 18, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada lawmakers urge use
of experts outside of agency
Letter: NRC must ensure unbiased look at repository's licensing
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawmakers Thursday endorsed a call for independent experts to judge whether a nuclear waste repository should be licensed at Yucca Mountain.
In a letter to the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the five Nevadans in Congress urged appointment of hearing boards from outside the NRC to handle the Yucca Mountain Project.
The lawmakers echoed a request from Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval earlier this month that changes in the NRC's licensing process are necessary to ensure the agency can perform a "fair and unbiased" job.
"The NRC must ensure that the process is above board, fair and impartial," Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said.
Sandoval petitioned the NRC on April 3 for changes in Yucca licensing, which would start after the Department of Energy turns over thousands of pages of material to regulators. The department has said it wants to file an application in December 2004.
After three or four years of hearings overseen by safety and licensing authorities, the NRC would judge whether the Energy Department has shown whether the repository proposed 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas could contain radioactive particles from spent nuclear fuel for 10,000 years.
But because NRC staff scientists have worked with the Energy Department on Yucca Mountain licensing, Nevada officials have expressed concern whether the agency can serve as an independent arbiter of the repository.
In their letter, Nevada lawmakers urged that NRC staff members be barred from arguing for the repository, as law permits. Instead, the members should play a neutral role in the proceedings, the lawmakers said.
Having NRC scientists supporting the licensing effort "would be similar to having a defendant's family sitting on the jury at the defendant's trial," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "The NRC should ensure an absence of any biases or conflicts of interest."
NRC officials have said they would not hesitate to reject a repository if they thought it could not be operated safely and effectively.
The letter to Diaz was signed also by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.
