Friday, May 09, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Yucca layoffs possible as budget cuts loom

WASHINGTON -- About 50 to 100 workers face possible layoffs this summer as the Energy Department continues to struggle with funding for the Yucca Mountain Project, a DOE official said Thursday.

Additionally, managers are considering a "partial shutdown" of the Yucca site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas to further conserve money, according to Christopher Kouts, acting director of the program's systems analysis office.

Meanwhile, the Energy Department faces new budget problems ahead. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved an amendment Thursday by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., to take a new bite out of the Yucca budget.

Ensign said the committee cut the Pentagon's annual contribution to the nuclear waste program by $70 million as it began writing its annual defense authorization bill.

"You just try to mess with it where you can," Ensign said of the Yucca budget, which Congress has reduced from proposed DOE levels each of the past nine years.

Yucca Mountain Project job reductions in July or August could amount to about 10 percent of the program staff, or 50 to 100 workers, Kouts told a National Academy of Sciences radioactive waste study board.

He said announcements on site restrictions would be forthcoming.

Yucca spokesman Allen Benson said later that layoff decisions are premature, but they are being considered as part of an economizing effort.

Benson said tours will likely be restricted, as well as access to some alcoves in the exploratory tunnel and certain other parts of the site.

Scientists continue to collect data from experiments being conducted on Yucca Mountain, but program managers have said there are portions of the site that can be restricted without affecting ongoing studies and the priority of filing a repository license.

Energy Department officials have said they need Congress to fully fund $591 million this year if they have any hope to maintain a December 2004 goal to complete a license application for a Yucca Mountain repository.

A DOE spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Defense Department's contribution for 2004 was proposed to be $430 million, but the Senate bill cuts that to $355 million. Ensign said the savings were directed to DOE accounts that repair aging buildings, including some slated for refurbishment at the Nevada Test Site.

The Yucca Mountain Project is part of the defense budget because the Pentagon has committed to paying for part of the repository to store military nuclear waste.

Other parts of the Yucca program are paid by utility ratepayers through a special fund whose spending is routed by Congress through the Energy Department. In total, the Bush administration wants lawmakers to allocate $591 million for Yucca Mountain in fiscal 2004.

Last year, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., persuaded committee leaders to cut $100 million from the Defense Department's Yucca fund. That money was restored later in the year, however.

This year, Ensign has a new assignment as a member of the Armed Services Committee and a defense bill negotiator. "We'll wait and see" if the budget cut is sustained, he said.