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Apr. 16, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Nevada calls plan deficient

DOE's future installation of drip shields challenged

By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
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A Department of Energy plan to install thousands of titanium alloy drip shields in the distant future to keep water from corroding nuclear waste canisters inside Yucca Mountain has failed to convince Nevada officials that a repository, if built there, would be safe.

"NRC should reject out of hand any application from DOE that relies on highly speculative installation of drip shields," Bob Loux, executive director of Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency wrote in a letter Tuesday to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein.

"DOE's claim that Yucca Mountain can meet applicable post-closure health and safety standards is precariously balanced on one slender and implausible assumption -- that 11,500 titanium-palladium alloy drip shields will be installed a hundred years or more from now. There is no safety net underlying this assumption," Loux says in his three-page letter.

Loux's conclusion is based on information that surfaced April 3 during a technical exchange between federal and state scientists in Las Vegas. Yucca Mountain is 100 miles northwest of the city.

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    • "DOE's own calculations show that, without thousands of these titanium-palladium alloy drip shields to ward off dripping water and retard the inevitable corrosion of the waste packages, the project radiation dose to the public from leaking waste containers would soon exceed the EPA standard by a factor of ten," Loux wrote, referring to health and safety standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

    An Energy Department spokesman for the Yucca Mountain Project, Allen Benson, responded to Loux's assertion, saying in an e-mail Tuesday that the department "looks forward to the review process."

    "The design of the repository and the department's safety case will be included in the license application for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review," Benson wrote.

    In his letter, Loux noted that installing expensive drip shields a century from now probably won't be possible because plans rely on using robots that have yet to be invented to install the 5-ton shields by remote control in hot, rock-strewn tunnels that will be highly radioactive.

    What's more, the amount of titanium needed for 11,500 drip shields "would consume about a third to half of the world's current annual titanium production," Loux wrote.

    "The availability of such quantities of this material a hundred years or more in the future is not something that anyone can assure with any confidence. That is even more the case with palladium, which is classified as a rare metal," he wrote.

    Meanwhile, Nevada's congressional delegation issued a joint statement Tuesday calling for the Department of Energy to sever its ties with the law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius regarding any additional work on the Yucca Mountain Project because of conflicts of interest.

    Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., along with Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., sent a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman asking him to recuse the law firm because of conflicts cited in an inspector general's investigation.

    "While the inspector general acknowledged that the department 'checked the boxes' in its procurement and did not break any laws, he also explained that DOE failed to provide adequate documentation of its decision to hire Morgan Lewis," the letter reads.

    The Energy Department inspector general has said DOE's hiring of the firm under a contract potentially worth more than $100 million was inconsistent with its past practice of excluding bidders with conflicts.

    Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.

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    Ray wrote on April 17, 2008 08:46 AM: Process Fail: I don't know where you get your information, for if it were true, bananas, spinach and potatoes would all be banned from our stores. You get more radiation from eating ONE banana than you will get standing next to a 100 shipments! (http://radlab.nl/radsafe/archives/9503/msg00074.html)

    Do some research; your fear-mongering does nothing but spread disinformation and ignorance.


    The Senior Senator Must Go wrote on April 16, 2008 05:25 PM: Agreed-

    This old fart Senator needs to go!


    Impeach Harry Reid and Lose Loux-Luthor wrote on April 16, 2008 04:29 PM: Nevada could be bringing in money like crazy for our schools, roads, infrastructure, and the deficit if the talking heads would change their stance...

    Not only would the Yucca Mountain Repository be good for Nevada's economy, the Yucca Mountain site should be turned into a Nuclear Power Complex. Its a great location for incorporating a Nuclear Power Plant for Electrical Generation, Water Desalination, and Co-Generation of Hydrogen; and a Reprocessing Facility. The greatly reduced end waste stream would then go into the Repository.

    Nevada's politicians need to WAKE UP !!!!


    yucca_insider wrote on April 16, 2008 02:51 PM: To "Let the Process Fail:" Your information is flat out wrong, irresponsible, and you know it. There are enough legitimate concerns without the fear-mongering.

    Do you think the inspector in this picture would would willingly submit himself to what you describe? http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/info_library/newsroom/photos/images-trans/04774PD_scanning-cask.jpg

    And what about the many cities through which spent nuclear fuel currently passes? Are they all deceived?


    CP wrote on April 16, 2008 10:35 AM: Try this blog, http://yuccafacts.blogivists.com/ ,and read "The Yucca Mountain Gold Mine" article.

    Oh, and Dear "Let the Process Fail" - what did you pay at the pump this weekend? What will the cost be next month? Summers coming ... what will be the cost for your A/C?


    doh wrote on April 16, 2008 09:27 AM: They could turn that really really expensive place that took years and years to build into another hotel for high rollers. We don't have enough of those.


    Joe wrote on April 16, 2008 09:22 AM: they have spent millions on this project for years and years- to what? close it? Wake up


    Let the Process Fail wrote on April 16, 2008 09:07 AM: The DOE cut corners on safety, science, and does not seem to care that where ever they transport the waste, they will be exposing us to gamma radiation 800 meters on either side of the caravan. There will be no train. The cost is too high. They will transport it by truck and expose rural people to cancer causing radiation. It is a bad idea and deserves to be stopped.


    Let the Process Work- wrote on April 16, 2008 06:09 AM: The State is facing a $1,000,000,000.00 (That’s billion, with a “B”) deficit and our elected officials are attempting to shut down what could be a very lucrative revenue stream for the State & Counties!? The Dept of Energy plans to submit the license this year. Let the process play out. If it is deemed unsafe by the scientists and engineers at the NRC no license will be issued and the project ends. If it is safe, it moves forward along with the money to Nevada. Either way, revenue will flow into Nevada during the licensing review process.

    Oh, and by the way- Isn't this good for the Country, or shall we continue to send our hard earned dollars to the Middle East?