Richardson calls for investigation of Yucca contractors and DOE study

Bart Jansen

Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 | 4:35 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Energy Secretary Bill Richardson called Tuesday for an investigation of allegations that contractors compromised the scientific study about whether to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Richardson's request for an Inspector General investigation came after a draft report about the Yucca site's suitability featured a note from contractors saying it would help sell the controversial project to Congress.

Nevada lawmakers expressed outrage after learning about the note and Richardson's move comes four days after Democratic Sen. Harry Reid also called for a similar investigation. Richardson said he wouldn't release the report or recommend a site for nuclear waste storage until after the investigation.

"I wish to reaffirm that the U.S. Energy Department's decision on the suitability of the Yucca site must - and will - be based solely on sceintific evidence and not on what's best for the nuclear industry," Richardson said.

Reid called contractors "biased" and "prejudiced." He welcomed Richardson's call for an investigation.

"There's no reason for him to be a cheerleader for the industry," Reid said. "Richardson has always been a fair guy.

Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied by the federal government to entomb 77,000 tons of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. Richardson's agency is studying the site's feasibility, but is prohibited by federal law from taking sides during the selection process.

A draft of a 60-page department overview concludes that Yucca Mountain is safe to store radioactive waste, even though an extensive study has not been completed.

Attached to the draft was a two-page note, written by department contractors, suggesting the overview is designed to help nuclear industry officials sell the Yucca Mountain project to Congress. The note says the overview "makes a convincing case that Yucca Mountain is a technically suitable site for a repository ...."

The note says the overview presents Yucca Mountain as the "key component in the DOE's proposed solution" to the country's nuclear waste problem.

"The technical suitability of the site is less of a concern to Congress than the broader issue of whether the nuclear waste problem can be solved at an affordable price in both financial and political terms," the note says.

Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, described the draft overview as a "slick sales brochure."

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov/

Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov/

Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects: http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/