Nevada scientists tabbed for future Yucca decisions

Thursday, June 25, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

The government's nuclear waste chief suggested that University of Nevada scientists eventually would monitor a proposed dump for high-level radioactive waste.

Lake Barrett, acting director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said future decisions on when to close a proposed dump at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, should be handled by experts closest to the situation.

One obvious place to find experts is the University of Nevada system, Barrett said, "not someone who lives in Washington." It has been assumed that the Department of Energy would monitor and seal the dump.

The DOE is studying the old volcano, which Congress singled out in 1987 as the only site to study for the world's first repository for high-level nuclear waste.

"The Nevada university system would most likely be involved, although this is only my personal opinion," Barrett said Wednesday at a Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board meeting in Las Vegas.

"Of course, if you call the university up today, they wouldn't touch it because of the political opposition by the state," Barrett said. Most Nevada officials oppose the Yucca Mountain project, fearing a nuclear dump would ruin the Las Vegas resort economy.

The nuclear industry would fund the university's efforts, Barrett said. "What we are trying to do is dispel the technological arrogance of faraway experts."

Pahrump resident Sally Devlin, who lives in a rural community close to Yucca Mountain, said the DOE was appealing to ignorance. "This is not a done deal," she said of the proposed repository.

Judy Treichel, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, said that while scientists talk about the uncertain future of Yucca Mountain, one thing is sure: "This repository will leak, it will give doses (of radiation)," she said.

"Why not come to Nevadans and ask if you should open it in the first place?" Treichel asked. "We know what the answer will be."

Allen Benson, DOE Yucca Mountain Project spokesman in Las Vegas, said the site has not been deemed suitable to bury 77,000 tons of waste from commercial reactors and defense sites.

"If it is not the proper place, we will walk away from it," he said. The DOE expects to issue an assessment of the mountain for Congress by the end of this year.