Study: Yucca nuke dump will cost taxpayers

Brendan Riley

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 8:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY - A study showing the cost of high-level nuclear-waste disposal could eventually top $53.9 billion - and the nation's taxpayers would pay half that cost - was released Tuesday by Gov. Bob Miller.

Miller, a longtime opponent of a nuclear dump in Nevada, termed the disposal project a folly and added that he hoped members of Congress would "come to their senses" and not authorize all the spending.

"The time is now to cut the losses and seek a viable alternative to the Yucca Mountain project," the governor said.

The U.S. Department of Energy has been examining Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, since Congress in 1987 ordered the single site studied as a permanent national nuclear-waste dump.

The study, commissioned by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, says an industry fund that's supposed to cover the cost of cleaning up waste at 110 commercial nuclear reactors around the country is "woefully inadequate," and the disposal cost has doubled.

The DOE's latest estimate says the fund will produce $28.1 billion, about half the amount needed for the nuclear-waste project. Miller and his nuclear projects office chief, Bob Loux, said that would leave taxpayers stuck for the rest of the long-term costs.

The cost of building the Yucca Mountain repository alone is estimated at $23 billion, and burying the wastes inside the mountain will take another $6 billion.

The independent assessment by KPMG Peat Marwick assumes that no earthquakes or other crises will occur at Yucca Mountain to add to expenses.

The Clinton administration has been fighting efforts by Congress to temporarily store nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site. President Clinton has promised to veto any bill providing for temporary storage, although the Republican-controlled House and Senate are still pushing such legislation.

The DOE is trying to finish a viability assessment by the end of this year on the progress of its nuclear-waste management program. But the KPMG Peat Marwick cost study says that the DOE probably won't have an estimate of the total expenses for managing the waste in time for the viability assessment.

The original cost report was prepared by Planning Information Corp., Thompson Professional Group and Decision Research Institute in February, using DOE and NRC reports. KPMG Peat Marwick then conducted an independent review of the earlier work.

In presenting the study, Miller and Loux also said the Nevada Legislature's Interim Finance Committee will be updated on the report Wednesday - at the same time that Loux advises lawmakers that his office needs $1.7 million in state funds.

Miller said he supports state funding to keep Loux' office from shutting down. Last week, the office was notified by DOE that it was not to spend $691,000 in federal funding. An audit report alleges the office improperly spent money on ads opposing the dump.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa backed up Miller, saying a review by her office shows Loux' office didn't improperly use the federal funds.

"Now the DOE may be knuckling under to pressure from the lobbying efforts of the nuclear industry because the state is using the funds to demonstrate that Yucca Mountain is unsuitable," Del Papa added.