Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

New member of NRC backs physical test of casks

WASHINGTON -- Plans for physical testing of an oversized cask designed to carry nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain won support Tuesday from a new member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Peter B. Lyons said he backed the idea, which supporters say could build public confidence in the government's ability to safely manage shipments of highly radioactive spent fuel to the proposed Nevada waste repository.

The physical tests on a full-sized container also could enable the NRC to benchmark computer codes in programs that evaluate new cask designs for licensing, proponents say.

"It is important that we do have such a full-scale test and not rely entirely on scale model testing," Lyons said at his first NRC meeting since joining the five-member commission last month.

"I think it's a very sound idea from a public policy standpoint," Lyons said.

A second new NRC commissioner, Gregory B. Jaczko, said he could not discuss the matter. Jaczko has been required to recuse himself from Yucca Mountain issues for a year because he was formerly an adviser to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

NRC scientists are developing a proposal that would attempt to demonstrate the durability of a 150-ton nuclear waste container by ramming one with a speeding train and then engulfing it in fire for a half-hour.

The cost of the testing and when it would be conducted have not yet been determined. Officials from the NRC and the Energy Department have discussed sharing costs.

The state of Nevada has registered a complaint about the test. State officials charge it will not be tough enough, and will serve more as a public relations exercise than a rigorous measure of cask safety.