Bryan threatens to delay appointment to nuke panel

Friday, April 30, 1999 | 3:32 a.m.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., could hold up the next appointment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of the agency's recent decisions on handling high-level nuclear waste.

Bryan wrote a letter to the White House on Thursday with details of the grievances he has with the commission that is responsible for licensing a high-level nuclear waste repository. Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the sole site under study.

"Based upon my recent experiences, I will be very reluctant to confirm any new nominee to the commission until I am confident that the commission will operate in a manner more responsive to the concerns of the citizens of the state of Nevada," Bryan's letter said.

The senator won't have long to wait. NRC Chairwoman Shirley Ann Jackson's term expires June 30, and she has accepted the presidency of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

The latest fault Bryan found with the regulatory commission was a study that said there was little risk of radiation exposure from transporting high-level nuclear waste through Las Vegas to Yucca Mountain.

The NRC study was tucked into the appendix of a rule for renewing nuclear reactor licenses. A Nevada official discovered the study and its reference to Las Vegas by accident, prompting outraged state and Clark County officials to ask for a public hearing in Las Vegas. The NRC rejected the request for a local hearing.

State Agency for Nuclear Projects Director Bob Loux and Clark County Nuclear Waste Division Director Dennis Bechtel said they fear the NRC's study could be used to allow any nuclear company in the country to begin shipping high-level waste to Yucca Mountain, if the repository is approved.

The commission used traffic and population information that was 10 years old. Current census figures show Las Vegas is growing at a rate of about 5,000 residents a month, which means the NRC study is not relevant to today's traffic conditions or hazards.

In addition, Bryan noted, the commission also proposed a less strict radiation exposure standard for Yucca Mountain, although the Environmental Protection Agency is legally responsible for setting such a limit.

Finally, the NRC, in an effort to streamline its regulatory process, has proposed to modify procedures and close some meetings to the public, the senator said.

No one at the commission's headquarters in Maryland could be reached for comment.