Letter: Environmental report on Yucca honest, objective

Friday, Aug. 20, 1999 | 12:45 p.m.

In the Sun's Aug. 10 editorial regarding the Department of Energy's (DOE) Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Yucca Mountain, you observe that "the report doesn't even address basic requirements typically found in environmental impact statements."

What you neglected to mention was that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, directs that the DOE need not discuss these issues. An EIS written in 1980 addressed alternative management strategies and determined the need for a repository. It was that EIS that led to the passage of the 1982 law adopting geologic disposal as our national policy.

The editorial states that in the Draft EIS, "DOE also neglected to address transportation in any serious manner." This statement is misleading.

The Draft EIS contains over 250 pages of information discussing the environmental impacts of transportation. What the document does not do is identify specific routes. This is entirely appropriate.

The Department of Transportation regulations that govern route selection stipulate that interstate highways are to be used unless states designate preferred alternatives.

Finally, the editorial impugns the work of DOE scientists by remarking that the Draft EIS "reads as if it had been written by nuclear power lobbyists, not scientists..."

The truth is this document should ease any concerns Nevadans may have about the DOE's scientific objectivity. It calculates and discloses the potential risks of proceeding with Yucca Mountain without any attempt to hide that there are potential risks. It openly admits there are uncertainties in the risk calculations and discloses those uncertainties honestly and openly.

We believe it is an objective report. It is also a draft EIS. We would hope that you would point out to your readers that now is the opportunity for citizens to read and comment on it, so the final EIS can be even better.

ALLEN BENSON Director, Department of Energy Institutional Affairs