Monday, February 14, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Repository's backers revive idea

Supporters of Yucca Mountain Project consider shifting management from government

WASHINGTON -- Frustrated by setbacks on the Yucca Mountain Project, states and utilities are reviving an idea to shift management of the proposed nuclear waste repository away from the Department of Energy.

The redesign envisions creation of a government-chartered corporation with some independence to manage construction of the $58 billion program, which again has been knocked off schedule.

The idea would allow managers more freedom to spend money from the nuclear waste fund and to raise and manage fees for the project.

A 1994 study, which has been dusted off and is circulating among Yucca Mountain backers, contends such an organization would have the advantages of a private business to hire and fire managers, set salaries to attract talent and promote accountability.

The Yucca Mountain Project would enjoy "increased credibility" after being removed from the Energy Department, the study said.

But Congress would have to go along, and the idea might not be attractive to lawmakers who oversee Yucca Mountain and its construction fund, which holds a $16.3 billion balance.

When management change was floated in the mid-1990s, "it went nowhere," said Ronald Callen, an author of the 1994 report when he was a staff member for the Michigan Public Service Commission.

"This is more than wishful thinking," said David Cherry, a spokesman for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a repository opponent.

State officials and utility lobbyists taking a new look at the idea are focusing on change taking place if the Energy Department gets a repository construction license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A corporation-styled approach might be better suited than a government bureaucracy to oversee complex repository construction, some argue.

Blueprints call for a 155-mile warren of tunnels to be carved within Yucca Mountain to hold 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants.

"DOE is not a building contractor," said Greg White, legislative liaison for the Michigan Public Service Commission and chairman of a nuclear issues staff subcommittee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Also, White said, "The other side of the coin would be that we don't seem to be getting what we need done, and maybe somebody else could do a better job."

White and other officials said that removing Yucca Mountain from the Energy Department is just an idea now, and they were unsure whether it would attract interest.

The idea was discussed Sunday during a conference of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

The proposal reflects frustration among states and utility interests that have supported a government repository for nuclear spent fuel. Customers of nuclear utilities have contributed about $24 billion into a fund to build a Nevada repository.

The Energy Department signed contracts with utilities promising to take ownership of nuclear waste by 1998, but a repository has yet to be finished.

Last week, the department abandoned its latest deadline and said a 2010 target for a Yucca Mountain repository would be postponed until 2012 or later.

Many experts think Yucca Mountain will not open until 2015 or 2018.

Nevada officials have said they believe the project has been fatally crippled because of state lawsuits, DOE mistakes and efforts by Yucca foes such as Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to block the program.

"As far as I can see the problems remain largely the same," Callen said. "For the first time since 1983, we don't have a (repository opening) date."