Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Yucca database problem criticized

Nuclear licensing board rules against Energy Department

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department was dealt a new blow on Tuesday when a nuclear licensing board ruled DOE mishandled a public database that is supposed to contain all documents for the planned Nevada nuclear waste repository.

The ruling is likely to force an undetermined delay in the Yucca Mountain Project while the Energy Department fixes problems and gets its work recertified, according to attorneys for Nevada and environmental activists.

Federal rules require DOE's documents on the Internet database, known as the Licensing Support Network, to be certified as complete and available electronically to the public for six months before a license application can be docketed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"They will have to certify again after they get their act together, either in a month or if ever, maybe sometime after the first of the year," said Martin Malsch, a former NRC attorney who represents the state of Nevada in Yucca Mountain cases.

Malsch called the ruling a major setback for the Yucca program, which already faces myriad uncertainties stemming from budget shortfalls and a court ruling this summer that threw out a key radiation safety guideline.

Joe Davis, a DOE spokesman, said the department has continued to work on the database and could be ready to seek recertification in about a month.

Davis said he could not say how the ruling might affect the DOE's timetables. Department officials had set an internal deadline to submit a repository license application to the NRC by year's end.

"The attorneys are going to look at this," Davis said. "Our goal is to have this repository open in 2010, and that remains our goal."

The department issued its database certification on June 30, six months in advance of its year-end goal.

DOE said it had made available 1.2 million documents totalling 5.6 million pages of technical reports, studies and e-mails chronicling years of DOE's repository effort.

Attorneys for Nevada challenged the database, saying DOE rushed an incomplete job to stay on deadline. They argued 30 million pages of documents and more than 4 million e-mails were missing, while access to documents on key issues such as repository canister corrosion was blocked by being improperly classified for secrecy.

A three-judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board panel assembled by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed with the state in a 54-page ruling released Tuesday that struck down DOE's certification.

The department "did not satisfy its obligation to make, in good faith, all of its documentary material available," the judges stated, even though DOE had 15 years to organize the material and the funding strength of the federal government to pay for the effort.

"It does not appear that it will take DOE a significant amount of time to complete its processing of the outstanding documents prior to being able to make a recertification," the judges said.

Federal rules require DOE to place all its documents on the database and to share them electronically with the public and parties that will be involved in Yucca Mountain licensing.

The idea, officials have said, is to make all pertinent information available upfront, to avoid delays in an NRC licensing process that resembles a courtroom trial.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff have completed loading all their Yucca documents onto the database. The judges' ruling allows Nevada and others to delay posting their documents until DOE's contributions are recertified.

The safety board's ruling was a victory for open government, said Wenonah Hauter, director of the Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program.

"Posting all relevant Yucca Mountain documents online allows the public to review the materials and participate effectively in the Yucca Mountain licensing proceedings," Hauter said.

"It was obvious the White House was so anxious to keep the licensing process for Yucca Mountain on track that they cut corners," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said the ruling was "a wake-up call for the DOE to be forthcoming with public documents, and prepare the material in such a way that is accessible and user friendly to the general public."