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Aug. 29, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: 4,000 seek rejection of license

Petition opposing nuclear waste dump sent to regulatory agency

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
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WASHINGTON -- A petition against the Yucca Mountain Project that has more than 4,000 signatures was sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday, according to Nevada lawmakers.

The petition urges the nuclear safety agency to reject a Department of Energy application to build the nuclear waste complex 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

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    • "It's time for the NRC to listen to the collective voice of Nevada. The proposed Yucca Mountain dump is wrong, and we will not accept it," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who initiated the drive earlier this summer with other members of the state's delegation.

    The staff of the nuclear agency has been conducting a preliminary screening of the Energy Department's 8,600-page licensing packet that was submitted in June.

    If the staff determines the application is complete, it will be placed on the agency's docket for technical evaluations and hearings that could consume the next three to four years. The agency is expected to announce a docketing decision next week.

    Energy Department officials are seeking permission to build a below-ground repository and above-ground waste handling complex for 77,000 tons of radioactive spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants and government-generated nuclear waste.

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week rejected a request from Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto that the Yucca application be thrown out as incomplete. The four-member commission said it would be premature to judge the application before the staff completes its initial screening.

    Nevada officials contend nuclear waste cannot be safely stored at Yucca Mountain for the thousands of years envisioned by the government.

    Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@ stephensmedia.com or (202) 783-1760.

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    Skeptical Nevadan wrote on September 02, 2008 08:15 AM: Is anyone surprised that an anti-scientific political delegation would produce such a petition and present it as an unscientific poll?

    Of more concern is the media's coverage of the NRC's rejection of Cortez-Masto's petition to stop the docketing of the repository license application.

    That petition was not merely rejected, it was roundly dismissed for what it was: a legal tour-de-farce that should embarrass any Nevadan who cares about the reputation of our state politicians and offices.

    On point after point, the NRC lawyers not only refute the Attorney General Office's contentions, they do so in a way that makes clear the obvious legal inadequacy of the petition. In fact, the state comes off looking amateurish and absurd, like something right out of a Tinseltown legal comedy a la "My Cousin Vinny."

    It's bad enough to get hammered into submission by legal precedent, as the NRC lawyers do to the state's petitioners, but to also get "punked" on simple logic, as well as "called out" on a clear misinterpretation of the relevant statues and regulations -- that is just plain embarrassing to all Nevadans.

    As I've said before, I support the repository so I have a bias. But I'm also a long-time Nevadan who would rather not be embarrased by how our politicians and state offices represent us.

    Having downloaded many NRC responses to the state, which anyone can do, and having read both the state's contentions and the ensuing "smackdown" from the NRC, I worry that in the long run all our state politicians will succeed in doing is humiliating the citizenry.


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    jake wrote on August 29, 2008 10:02 PM: reid get back in your hole with scummer. its time for an up down vote on drilling. thank a democrat in NOV for the high food and gasoline prices VOTE NO NO dem


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    davelv wrote on August 29, 2008 10:25 AM: Only 4000 out of 2 million Nevadans and 300 million nationwide? Besides which the poll didn't even let people vote in favor of the respository. Hardly representative of a popular opinion.


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    letsciencedecide wrote on August 29, 2008 10:21 AM: Just another political publicity stunt. The NRC has a very clear process for opposing parties to submit contentions to the licensing process and a petition won’t even register in the process. The NRC will ultimately have to waste time responding as such. Actually, this is a stupid strategy for the State – all they will do is annoy the NRC.

    Reid has been arguing for years that Yucca Mountain was selected for political reasons and not scientific reasons (while somewhat true it does not change the fact that Yucca Mountain is a scientifically sound location) – now that the science is being judged he just uses unscientific scare tactics.


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    Dr. Evil wrote on August 29, 2008 08:30 AM: Don't you need something like 50,000 signatures to get on the ballot in this state?

    Four THOUSAND signatures. Like one MILLION dollars...


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    elroy wrote on August 29, 2008 07:22 AM: Looks like Reid is afriad of a technical review of the application?? Trying politics rather than science. What a piece of s**t.