Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reid targets nuke board chief
Nevada senator says chairman supported Yucca Mountain
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Tuesday called for the resignation of a nuclear waste advisory board chairman who spoke favorably about the Yucca Mountain Project in testimony before Congress two years ago.
Reid questioned whether the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, highly regarded as an independent voice in nuclear waste science debates, can function effectively with Michael L. Corradini as its head.
Corradini, chairman of the engineering physics department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, was appointed by President Bush in June to lead the 11-person expert panel.
"Here is somebody who, keep in mind, has testified he supports Yucca Mountain. That's not the purpose of the nuclear waste technical board. We depend on them for their independence," Reid said.
Corradini, who led a NWTRB meeting in Las Vegas on Tuesday, defended himself, saying he plans to uphold the board's reputation for objectivity and scientific rigor. He said he will not resign and he wants to talk to Reid.
"I'm personally committed and continue to be committed to the board and its objectivity and independence," he said. "The board members should be judged on their performance."
While critics have cited a few other ties to the Energy Department, Corradini is drawing attention particularly for Yucca Mountain remarks at the end of prepared testimony he delivered to the Senate Energy Committee on July 18, 2001.
Commenting on the three-decade stalemate over nuclear waste disposal, Corradini said, "It is my view that this is primarily a political rather than a technical issue."
Quoting former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who came out in favor of a Nevada repository, Corradini testified, "there is not much left to quarrel about" at Yucca Mountain. He associated himself with a Babbitt comment that the site was "safe and solid."
He went on to testify that with a Yucca repository likely to be further delayed, he supported creating an Office of Spent Nuclear Fuel as a research backup.
Questioned Tuesday about his testimony, Corradini said, "What I said at the time, I have to stand by it."
