Friday, July 22, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Final weeks for quality control chief

Departure of second official announced

WASHINGTON -- The director of often-criticized Yucca Mountain quality controls said Thursday he is leaving, the second key departure this week from the nuclear waste program.

The announced exit of Denny Brown after three years as director of the Office of Quality Assurance coincided with confirmation that the Government Accountability Office is launching a new Yucca Mountain investigation.

The GAO, which works for Congress, is dispatching auditors to Las Vegas next week to measure DOE's efforts to improve its quality assurance, a key safety element of the project, according to T.J. Crawford, a spokesman for Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.

Porter asked that the GAO update a 2004 study, Crawford said. That report concluded DOE was failing to fix quality assurance problems and that promised reforms were not structured to succeed.

Investigators also will examine quality assurance concerns that have been raised by whistle-blowers, according to documents obtained Thursday.

Brown's announcement came a day after it was reported that Joseph Ziegler, the director of Yucca Mountain licensing, had resigned last week. Earlier this month, the project's management company Bechtel SAIC confirmed president John Mitchell was being transferred to another division.

The departure of top managers appears to be a blow to the Energy Department as it tries to navigate legal and technical obstacles to preparing a repository license application.

"Either the rats are deserting the sinking ship or these are stand-up guys who want to do the right thing, are being told to get a license or else, and they have integrity and are leaving," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Brown said in an e-mail sent to Yucca employees Thursday that he had been working under a three-year contract that expires early in October, and he would be leaving then to pursue other interests.

Brown was hired in 2002 to bring order to Yucca quality assurance, which had been criticized for weaknesses throughout the 20-year history of the repository program. Criticism did not stop during his tenure.

Quality assurance is a key safety element for nuclear programs that must pass muster with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as the Energy Department hopes to do with the proposed nuclear waste repository.

Nevada officials, congressional investigators and evaluators from the NRC criticized Yucca quality controls in reports dating to 1988. Energy Department officials have defended progress in Yucca quality assurance, saying they had an effective program in place to support a repository license application.

More recently, the Yucca project was rocked by allegations in worker e-mails that quality assurance documents supporting hydrology research at the site may have been falsified.

Brown also was tied to an internal investigation this spring that looked into allegations of harassment and discrimination within the Office of Quality Assurance, officials within the project confirmed.

An anonymous whistle-blower reported the allegations and other perceived shortcomings in Yucca quality assurance in a March 15 letter sent to members of Congress and officials in the Energy Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

A formal complaint also was filed with the Yucca Mountain Employee Concerns program, two project officials said.

The outcome of the investigation could not be learned Thursday night. DOE spokesman Allen Benson said he could neither confirm nor deny an investigation took place.