Panel rips rapid move to temporary nuke storage

Thursday, March 21, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Neither science nor safety supports a rush to build a central storage site for tons of nuclear fuel kept at commercial power plants, a scientific review team said.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board said Wednesday the federal government should focus on studying Yucca Mountain to determine if it is safe for a permanent underground dump.

"We found there is no compelling technical or safety reasons to begin moving spent fuel from reactor sites for the next few years," said John Cantlon, the board's chairman.

Central storage demands won't hit the critical stage until 2010 when more reactors shut down, the Michigan State University professor emeritus said.

The report said the DOE could determine by 1998 whether Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is suitable and there is time to consider temporary storage then.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., hailed the board's decision as a victory in Nevada's fight against becoming a nuclear dumping ground.

"The supposed emergency that the nuclear energy industry likes to talk about does not exist," Bryan said.

"As this report concludes, there is no need to move nuclear waste at this time," Bryan said, noting dry cask storage may continue to hold highly radioactive wastes near the reactor sites.

Bills in the House and Senate target Nevada for the temporary storage of nuclear waste, but President Clinton has said he will veto any interim storage bill that includes Nevada.

Current law prohibits temporary storage of nuclear waste in the same state under study as a permanent dump. Pending legislation would change the law.

The nuclear industry immediately criticized the report.

"The nuclear industry unanimously believes that the federal government is obligated to take used nuclear fuel by 1998 or shortly thereafter," a Nuclear Energy Institute statement said. The institute is a trade group.

Congress created the review board in 1987 for independent oversight of the Energy Department's nuclear waste program.