Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Yucca project witnesses decide against testifying

Senator still expects to hold hearing

WASHINGTON -- The shape of a U.S. Senate hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Las Vegas was thrown into the air over the weekend after one witness and possibly a second declined to testify on allegations of problems within the Yucca Mountain Project.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., on Monday announced witnesses for the hearing, including two still employed in the Energy Department nuclear waste repository program who contend they faced retaliation after bringing bad news to supervisors.

But despite being listed to speak, quality assurance auditor Donald Harris said he will not show up after he learned the director of the nuclear waste repository program was discouraging his appearance.

"I will not be testifying," Harris said when reached at home. "I don't know what to make of all this, and I have no further comment."

A second listed witness, former DOE quality assurance director Robert Clark, could not be reached Monday. Two sources said he planned against testifying.

Reid on Monday accused DOE of muscling whistle-blowers and orchestrating a cover-up of program flaws.

"They are doing everything they can to intimidate these people," he said. "This is no longer whether you believe in Yucca Mountain. This is whether you believe in good government."

Reid said he learned over the weekend that Harris and Clark will decline to testify. An aide said they remained on the witness list on the expectation they still might appear to speak.

The hearing, arranged by Reid and conducted by the Senate's energy and water subcommittee, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Clark County Government Center commission chambers. It will be telecast on cable channel 4 and broadcast on the Internet at www.accessclarkcounty.com.

Reid and Ensign were expected to be the only senators attending.

Reid said he will consult Ensign but expected the hearing still will take place if Harris or Clark do not appear.

Others announced to testify include retired Nuclear Regulatory Commission site inspector Bill Belke; Allison MacFarland, a professor and scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Robin Nazarro, study director at the General Accounting Office.

"We can still do some things and raise some hell," Reid said, including calling attention to any Energy Department role in influencing witnesses.

DOE spokesman Allen Benson said Monday he had not seen a letter that Yucca project director Margaret Chu had written discussing possible testimony by Clark and Harris, and declined to comment. Benson could not say whether DOE had a problem with Clark or Harris speaking.

Reid and Ensign had tilted the Senate hearing to Yucca critics and did not invite the Energy Department to send a representative. Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said, "The witnesses on the list are the people the senators wanted to hear from."

Reid said he sent a letter Thursday to Chu that asked for DOE's cooperation in allowing Harris and Clark to appear.

Reid said Monday from Las Vegas he had not received a response but heard from Yucca insiders that Chu had prepared a letter discouraging their testimony.

Two people who had seen the letter and another who had portions read over the phone said Chu's letter, addressed to Reid, said Clark now works for another part of the Yucca program, and "the subject matter for which his testimony is sought is not within the scope of his current duties."

As for Harris, Chu said he is employed by a DOE contractor, and "we are not in a position to instruct or otherwise pressure him to testify."

Clark and Harris were made aware of Chu's letter Friday, sources said.

Reid said the hearing was scheduled to explore the project's quality assurance program, which gathers volumes of supporting data and confirms the performance of software and computer modeling.

The information is being compiled to support the department's recommendation that nuclear waste can be buried safely at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Harris was a member of a four-member contract audit team that discovered flaws this spring in how quality assurance procedures were being updated in part of the program. The discovery forced managers in DOE and project contractor Bechtel SAIC to take corrective action.

Harris said he was told April 9 by a supervisor for his employer, Navarro Research and Engineering, that he was being removed from audit duties. Harris has said he thinks a connection exists between the audit and the reassignment, which was reversed by Navarro later in the month.

Navarro has said that Harris was reassigned temporarily while the company investigated an allegation he had acted unprofessionally in meetings where the audit was reviewed. Navarro said that Harris was cleared and that he was returned to his job.

Clark was the project's director of quality assurance until he was transferred to another division in September 2001. Clark has said he was told by a supervisor to "take one for the project" after reportedly urging corrective actions within the repository program.