Editorial: EPA offers balance on repository

Sunday, Aug. 22, 1999 | 9:34 a.m.

Just as surely as the sun rises in the east, Nevadans have come to expect the federal government to ignore scientific concerns regarding efforts to place a nuclear waste repository in this state. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency came along last week and threw us a curve. In a pleasant turn of events, the EPA proposed strict limits on how much radiation could be allowed to escape a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. The action by the EPA is not only at odds with other agencies involved in building and licensing the repository, but also is diametrically opposed to the nuclear power lobby, which has considerable influence in Congress.

The EPA, which is responsible for setting radiation standards at a proposed repository, found that the exposure of radiation from a repository should be no more than 15 millirems a year. This would be in addition to the 330 millirems we would normally receive every year through all sources of radiation. The EPA calculates that the extra 15 millirems a year likely would cause seven cancer deaths in a population of 1 million. Along with exposure to radiation by air, the EPA also is curtailing the amount of radiation that can escape through ground water over the next 10,000 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, wanted a higher limit of an extra 25 millirems a year and no limit whatsoever on radiation in ground water. While the NRC is responsible for issuing the final license for a repository, by law the agency will have to abide by the EPA's de cision.

The nuclear power industry had tried to strong-arm the EPA in a July 20 letter to the White House's Office of Management and Budget, contending that if a repository had to meet the stricter standards it would be cost-prohibitive, threatening the project. Despite the Nuclear Energy Institute's scare tactics, the reality is that the standards issued aren't that unreasonable. As a matter of fact, some state officials believe the EPA should have set tougher guidelines regarding the possibility of escaping radioactive ground water.

Overall, however, Nevadans can feel reassured that at least one federal agency is willing to listen without prejudice and make objective findings based on the best scientific evidence available. That's all Nevadans have asked for in the past and it is hoped that the rest of the federal government, including Congress, takes a cue from the EPA and produces a more balanced, scientific inquiry into the feasibility of Yucca Mountain.