DOE seeks four-month wait on Yucca Mountain case

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy has called for a four-month delay before resuming license hearings for the Yucca Mountain repository, saying there is too much uncertainty surrounding the project to move forward.

A panel of judges associated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has expressed interest in restarting hearings on the controversial nuclear waste site after putting them on hold last year.

But DOE attorneys filed a motion on Jan. 21 arguing that a restart could amount to a waste of time and money because lawsuits and budget issues surrounding the repository still are up in the air. They asked that license hearings remain frozen through May 20.

"In short, this proceeding is subject to evolving circumstances and events not fully within the control of the commission or DOE, and any resumption pending their resolution runs a substantial risk of being a costly, and potentially wasteful, on-again, off-again affair," attorneys said in the 11-page motion to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

The legal filing is the latest behind-the-scenes move over the fate of the Yucca project, which the Obama administration has defunded and closed down but which administration critics are attempting to resuscitate through legal actions and on Capitol Hill.

Energy Department attorneys argued that the NRC judges should hold off to see whether the skies are any clearer in 120 days.

Nevada, which has fought against the Yucca project, supports a 120-day hold, according to Joe Strolin, acting executive director for the state Agency for Nuclear Projects.

"It makes a lot of sense from almost every standpoint because of all the uncertainties with what's happening now with the Yucca project," Strolin said.