Thursday, May 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NUCLEAR WASTE: Auditor: Yucca morale sinking

Quality assurance employee tells senators `project appears to be in a downward spiral'

WASHINGTON -- A Yucca Mountain Project auditor has sent an appeal to Nevada's senators, declaring morale is sinking in the nuclear waste program and "it has become increasingly difficult for people to do their jobs."

"The project appears to be in a downward spiral, and people including the new project management, probably don't know why," wrote Kristi Hodges, a 14-year contractor employee who holds a senior position in the quality assurance branch.

In a letter Tuesday to Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., Hodges said as they began to face growing pressures, project managers beginning in 1999 "appeared to give up on fixing problems and instead pursued a strategy of shoot the messenger," auditors who brought problems to their attention.

"We never lost faith in the project but clearly someone higher than us did," she said.

Ensign and Reid were participating in debate on a major defense authorization bill and were not available to be interviewed. Aides said the concerns Hodges conveyed in a seven-page letter will be discussed at a Yucca Mountain congressional hearing set for next Wednesday in Las Vegas.

"One thing especially interesting to note is that initially Senator Reid was receiving anonymous letters and now the problems have become so severe that people are willing to sign their names," Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. "Ms. Hodges has been there a while and she is very credible."

Hodges has led key audits of the project. In the process she alerted the Energy Department inspector general on a half dozen occasions to allegations of corruption and personnel problems within quality assurance and the program that fields employee concerns.

An employee survey in 2001 showed 93 percent felt comfortable communicating with supervisors without fear of retaliation, Hodges noted. An update this spring showed less than half of the workforce still feels that way.

"The fear factor has more than doubled," Hodges wrote.

Hodges told Reid and Ensign auditors have found "no technical smoking gun that we are aware of" that could sink the Yucca project. There are, however, "persistent QA problems" that challenge the program, she said.

"For example, its not that the software, data and models are bad; its that more work needs to be done to prove they are good," Hodges said.

She said project managers in recent weeks have been forthright in disclosing problems and promising all will be corrected by the time a license is submitted in December 2004, "but they're running out of time."

DOE spokesman Allen Benson said in a statement Hodges raises "no new quality assurance issues" in her letter.

"However you now have a QA employee who just confirmed that there are `no technical smoking guns' with the science of Yucca Mountain," Benson said. "That confirms what we've known for years and have attempted to convey to the state of Nevada and its congressional delegation.

"We have made improvements in the QA program and we continue to address any technical or managerial issue raised by staff during preparation of a license application for Yucca Mountain," Benson said.

To qualify for a license, the Energy Department must have the ability to produce meticulous documentation to allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to trace back research and complex computer modeling of the proposed repository.

Shortcomings in this "quality assurance" have drawn criticism over the years, and repeated efforts by DOE to fix the program. This spring, Yucca program director Margaret Chu announced a new effort to instill "quality focus" in the workforce.

Reid aides organizing next week's hearing have interviewed Hodges and other Yucca employees who have expressed concerns about the program. Hafen said a witness list was nearing completion.

Officials from the General Accounting Office who are in the midst of a program review have been asked to testify, an agency spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday.

Hodges said Wednesday she began writing her program evaluation for the possibility she might be called to testify next week. When she finished, she decided to send it to the Nevada senators.

"I really don't think they need to call me (to testify)," Hodges said. "This (letter) is my perception of the situation as an insider. Others may have more information."