Berkley calling for more Yucca research

Friday, Sept. 8, 2000 | 10:47 a.m.

Molecular biologist Jacob Paz has raised questions about the safety of containers that would be used to contain high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, prompting Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., to call for more research.

Paz is questioning whether lead and other heavy metals in the containers could somehow chemically react with the nuclear waste, causing the containers to degenerate and leak radiation.

The issue needs to be addressed before the government's final environmental impact statement is released next year, said Paz, who added he has worked with both the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

"I am interested in the science and not the political aspect of science," Paz said after announcing he reviewed more than 500 scientific papers on the subject.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., after meeting with Paz last month, became involved. She sent a letter on Tuesday to the heads of the DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, asking that research be done before Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is recommended as a high-level nuclear waste repository.

"I am particularly concerned about the potential consequences of mixing toxic heavy metals and nuclear waste, as would be required for the transportation and storage of high level nuclear waste," Berkley wrote.

Berkley called for comprehensive research to examine the question.

Nuclear engineer Anthony Hechanova said the problem of chemical toxicity from 77,000 tons of nuclear waste during transit and while buried at Yucca is worthy of more research.

Current laws passed by Congress to manage radioactive wastes from commercial reactors and weapons development do not consider chemical reactions from containers, the Harry Reid Environmental Center researcher said.

"It's a real issue, we've known about it for awhile," Hechanova said.

Abe Van Luik, a DOE technical advisor on Yucca Mountain, said that Paz's scientific view makes good sense to him.

"But from an agency perspective, we have to respect the roles carved out by the Congress for its agencies and departments," Van Luik said. "Therefore, it is not the Department of Energy's and especially the Yucca Mountain Project's job to do basic research to call into question the regulations imposed on it by law and through the legally prescribed rule processes."

UNLV's William Culbreth, associate professor of mechanical engineering, said Paz has some good ideas for further research into the problem.

It would be a scientifically sound idea to examine chemical reactions of exotic metals or metal alloys proposed for nuclear waste containers, Culbreth said.

UNLV health physicist Bill Johnson said one of the metals that could become a potential problem is chromium, which is used in the containers and radioactive shields.