Scientists: DOE slow to release Yucca report

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

A scientific storm is brewing between federal agencies that could delay developing Yucca Mountain as a high-level nuclear waste repository.

Independent scientists, who must review mountains of information about Yucca Mountain gathered by the Energy Department over the past 20 years, said Wednesday that the delay in receiving a new report may hamper progress at the site.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission geologist Bret Leslie warned the DOE that it must prove Yucca Mountain is safe for a repository, and withholding information is not the way to do it. Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site under study to permanently contain 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste.

At a meeting of a technical review board -- a group of independent scientists charged with overseeing the DOE's research -- Leslie noted that the DOE has not released a new study that fills in missing information, and the NRC will need time to review it.

The two-volume report looks at an alternate design for a repository and reportedly uncovers new information about Yucca Mountain.

Previously the Energy Department had relied on a design that allowed the rock to heat above water's boiling point. The alternative would keep the rock cooler but take more space and require more time to fill.

Among the new information, DOE scientists said, calculations show that radiation in ash released during a volcanic eruption through the repository would be 20 times higher than expected for the first 1,000 years.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board is meeting in Las Vegas through today to preview portions of the 1,300-page report. The DOE has asked the NRC to complete its review by Oct. 1, but has not said when the full report will be available.

Federal law requires NRC scientists to study the DOE's work before it can apply for a license. The NRC must approve a repository before construction could begin.

DOE's assistant project manager Steve Brocoum said that scientists are analyzing the missing and incorrect information, but because studies at the site are ongoing, there are no deadlines for releasing the information.

However, he said after the meeting, copies may be available to the public later this month or next.

Daniel Bullen, a mechanical engineering expert and chairman of the board's joint panel, said that the DOE has to show enough scientific details to satisfy reviewers that a Yucca Mountain repository will work. Other scientists reviewing portions of the DOE's latest report received few answers to their questions Wednesday.

The DOE's track record with keeping the NRC informed has not been good, Leslie said. The DOE did not inform the NRC until May about eight major errors in its earlier scientific work at Yucca Mountain. DOE scientists had discovered missing information, miscalculations and mistakes last year, but did not inform the NRC at the time, he said.

The NRC sent a letter on May 4 to the DOE demanding an explanation for the errors.

"How will the DOE inform interested parties of such errors?" Leslie said.