Errors in DOE plan raise questions

Thursday, May 31, 2001 | 10:43 a.m.

Errors found in the Energy Department's plan for a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain have raised questions about the agency's ability to oversee the scientific work that will determine whether the dump is built.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would have to license a repository before it could open, found mistakes and missing information in eight areas of the DOE's study of how it would perform over thousands of years.

It is reviewing the DOE's scientific work to determine if its quality can be assured, NRC Nuclear Waste Division Chief William Reamer said. The Energy Department has to prove its work is scientifically valid, he said.

Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site being studied to store 77,000 tons of highly radioactive commercial and defense waste. DOE studies so far have shown no obstacles that can't be overcome to building a repository.

"These errors could be indications that quality assurance measures were not properly implemented," Reamer said.

If the NRC discovers quality assurance problems with DOE's scientific work, "might there be other errors?" Reamer asked.

If the NRC finds more errors in the DOE's Yucca Mountain work, "one avenue the DOE could follow is to hire an independent reviewer," Reamer said.

Normally the DOE would not have to hire a separate and independent company for scientific review, Reamer said.

Until the DOE responds, it is unclear whether the NRC questions could delay the construction of a repository, he said. If it is found scientifically sound, Yucca Mountain could open by 2010.

NRC staff discovered missing data, calculation errors, varying radiation exposures and potential chemical reactions between the buried nuclear wastes and the containers that would allow radiation to escape. The DOE is analyzing the NRC's findings.

Those questions are expected to be answered in a series of meeting with the NRC staff in June.