Saturday, February 28, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Criticism
of dump
mounts
Yucca Mountain foes
urge defeat of budget
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Environmental organizations launched new criticism Friday at the Yucca Mountain Project, urging Congress to investigate safety practices at the nuclear waste repository site and reject a budget increase sought by the Energy Department.
The groups urged lawmakers to decline an $880 million spending request for 2005, a 51 percent increase. They argued the investment was premature until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determines whether the Nevada site should be licensed.
They also called for investigations into worker health at the Yucca site following reports that workers may have developed silicosis from inhaling fibrous dust during tunneling in the mid-1990s.
"Congress should call for a federal investigation into the safety practices at Yucca Mountain and request that the tunnel and other portions of the work area be sealed off until it can be determined that it is safe for workers," the groups said.
A letter was sent to members of Congress and was signed by representatives of 11 environmental groups in Nevada and Washington, including Citizen Alert, the Nevada Desert Experience and the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force.
Michele Boyd, a representative of the Public Citizen watchdog group, said the organizations plan new lobbying efforts this spring against the Yucca project.
In their letter, the groups urged lawmakers to block a proposal by President Bush to change accounting practices for the Yucca program. Supporters of the change say it would make it easier for Energy Department officials to access funding from the nuclear waste account that pays for most of the repository.
Environmentalists also urged Congress to play a more active role in overseeing design of the proposed repository in light of a report by an expert review board last fall.
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board questioned whether a design being pursued by the Energy Department would lead to faster corrosion of canisters that are supposed to contain highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel within the repository.
