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NRC chairman says Yucca Mountain closeout to include license panel
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Photo Courtesy Of The Department Of Energy
A fence surrounds the north entrance to a 5-mile tunnel that loops through Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Department of Energy closed the exploratory tunnel earlier this year because funding cutbacks eliminated staffing and forced officials to shut off ventilation and lights.
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STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Updated: Feb. 3, 2011 | 7:52 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Wednesday that the agency is continuing to close out its activities on the Yucca Mountain repository, a process that eventually will include halting the work of the project's licensing board.
Jaczko said the commission is in the midst of a ramp-down of high-level nuclear waste activities that will stretch from one to two years. His comments appeared to be the first time NRC officials have said the closeout would extend to proceedings of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a semi-autonomous arm of the agency.
"The agency budget encompasses the licensing board, so if there is no money for the program, there is no money for licensing activities and for the licensing board itself," Jaczko said. "Our overall focus is on closing out our review of the (Yucca) license application, and so that includes the licensing board, it includes everything that is involved in that. If there were unresolved legal questions, they would stay unresolved legal questions. "
A panel of three administrative judges affiliated with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board held preliminary hearings on Yucca Mountain in 2009 but suspended the process early last year when the Obama administration proposed to withdraw the project from consideration. Most recently, officials at the Department of Energy have suggested the judges continue the suspension at least until mid-May.
Jaczko's comments followed a media round-table assembled by the Platts Energy Forum. During the session, Jaczko said that when it came to nuclear waste, the agency has shifted from an approach of when does nuclear waste need to be discarded, to how long might it safely be stored at reactor sites.
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""The agency budget encompasses the licensing board, so if there is no money for the program, there is no money for licensing activities and for the licensing board itself," Jaczko said."
That's funny. The 2011 budget proposal that Obama submitted, which tried to cut the funding was never passed by Congress. As much as Reid tried to get a budget without Yucca through, he couldn't. The government is still working under a continuing resolution. So Jaczko is not telling the whole truth. Yucca may be in a final budget and the DC court may hand Obama, Chu, and Jaczko a good whack as they already have a precedence from the ASLB, who said DOE cannot withdraw the application.
Slam, you're to witty for words. Such insight. Amazing guy too, that Jac_zoff....how can one man dissolve the ASLB? Does he have the authority? Did Dirty Harry Sanchez Reid give him such power? What happens if the DC Circuit court rules that the DOE, Chuless, and the Obamination cannot set aside the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, a law passed by Congress and signed by a previous POTUS? Oh, the drama....we shall soon see. The funny thing about the nuclear waste confidence "policy" is that it's just that....policy; regardless of the truth. The temporary dry storage casks presently in place were designed for an at-most 40 year life span....not 100 years; certainly not 200 or 300 years. A friend of mine who consults to the Nuclear Industry has told me that some of the dry storage casks in areas near salt water bodies of water (such as oceans!) are deteriorating as such a rate that it is uncertain if those casks could be lifted and moved TODAY; certainly not 100 to 300 years from now. What part of "temporary" doesn't Chuless or Jac_zoff not understand?
All the ranting and venom aside, the bottom line is that the federal government is CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED to take responsibility for the waste, and do something with it. Not to mention LEGALLY OBLIGATED. And they have been PAID to do so for the last thirty years. In all honesty I don't know if that something necessarily HAS to be Yucca Mountain, but to unilaterally decide to do absolutely NOTHING AT ALL is an outrage. The ONLY way this even begins to make sense is if the DOE has agreed to return the Waste Fund as part of this new "policy," of pretending it doesn't exist for the next hundred years, and hoping someone else comes up with a better solution during that time. If the NRC is suspending ALL high level waste activities, how is that going to happen?
In 2012 when Obama is run out of office and the Republicans regain control of the Senate, Yucca Mountain will reopen. If Governor Sandoval is smart, Yucca will pay for the education system in Nevaduh. All of the the crying Demorats will be begging Dingy Harry for help. He will be sleeping at the Ritz, slurping oatmeal and calling for Rory (no last name) to take him to the bathroom. God Bless Nevaduh, free education is on the way!
It's been a half hour and no non-informative posts from Alvin. He must be watching Glenn Beck predicting the end of the world. Could he be viewing chicken little sky is falling views from Sean Hannity? Maybe straight out lies from Carl Rove? No matter Alvin's posts will have misinformation as usual. Watch the nonsense he will post here. There will be plenty of links for you to click on. The best one will be, all of Nevada's problem could be solved with Yucca Mountain opening. Alvin wants to be on television with his rants so badly. Sadly the only network currently offering is the Cartoon Network.