Lawsuit limits proposed over nuclear waste site selection

WASHINGTON -- The nuclear waste commission has recommended that the government try a cooperative approach to recruit volunteer states to host a high-level radioactive waste site. But when several commissioners testified Wednesday in Congress, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., offered another idea: Don't allow lawsuits.

Brooks, a member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said that it could be difficult to find a site that would be environmentally sound and secure and agreeable to state, county and local leaders.

"Did you all spend any time considering other options other than seeking consent, such as changing the laws that enable communities around the country to go to court and delay the process almost indefinitely, or in this case years if not decades?" Brooks asked.

He said, "You are talking about a situation that your own report says is urgent, and we have already spent more than
$10 billion on Yucca Mountain," the Nevada site that was terminated after persistent political and legal fights from the state.

The courts have been the battleground for lawsuits seeking to delay or kill projects that plaintiffs think are flawed or dangerous, contending the government has not followed laws to protect the public and the environment.

Besides probably being unconstitutional, Richard Meserve, a commission member and former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, shot down the idea of limiting judicial review.

"We have a wide array of laws that involve public involvement," Meserve said. "I would think there would be outrage if we were to somehow circumvent, for example, requirements that you have environmental impact statements that involve public input and give opportunity for judicial review."

Brooks asked what the commission has lined up as a "Plan B" if no volunteers emerge.

"We don't have a Plan B," the commission co-chairman, Brent Scowcroft, said. "We believe this is a political process, and you are the political experts. There is no magic thing where you can wave a wand and think, 'This is perfect. Let's go.' "

That said, Scowcroft said, ways have been found to place unpleasant projects such as prisons and other forms of waste disposal sites. "All kinds of disagreeable things can be made agreeable under certain circumstances," he said.

The Department of Energy will report to Congress in six months with a new strategy expected to be based in part on the expert panel's findings.

Peter Lyons, assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said the agency will consult lawmakers and other interests while forming its strategy. Congress would need to pass new laws to carry out several recommendations, including forming a new quasi-government corporation dedicated to nuclear waste.

Lyons also said the Department of Energy was stepping up research through its Used Nuclear Fuel Disposition Program, formed after the disbanding of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, which operated the Yucca Mountain project.

The department plans research into whether salt geologic formations can withstand heat from decaying nuclear waste. Communities around Carlsbad, N.M., have expressed interest in hosting a repository in salt domes.

Lyons said the Department of Energy is starting research into whether nuclear waste packages can be lowered into boreholes drilled as deep as three miles into the Earth's crust and is taking fresh looks at disposing radioactive waste in granite and clay formations.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow him on Twitter @STetreaultDC.