Nevadans want in on nuke cask tests

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada officials are urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to include them in the testing of nuclear waste containers that would be used to ship highly radioactive nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain.

The Nevadans want a say in the the selection of test scenarios, facilities and personnel. In a letter Monday a state official urged the NRC to adopt Nevada proposals for a comprehensive testing program that includes Nevada universities.

Including Nevada stakeholders from outside the Energy Department and Nuclear Regulatory Commission would assure that the tests have real-world meaning and are not just an "engineering exercise," Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency, wrote to NRC Chairman Richard Meserve.

The DOE manages the Yucca project and the NRC will be responsible for licensing it, as well as approving its construction.

The project aims to make the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas the nation's permanent dump for nuclear waste, which is now piling up at power plants and Defense Department sites all over the country.

Nevada officials for years have asked for new tests of the metal casks that would be used to haul waste on trucks and trains, and the NRC in recent months has said it planned new tests, pending funding from Congress.

According to Loux's letter, Nevada wants:

The tests, if administered properly, would demonstrate that the containers meet NRC standards, would lead to safer containers and improve public confidence in shipping waste, Loux wrote.

In separate action, Loux asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to delay a Dec. 18 waste transportation briefing from the NRC's advisory committee on nuclear waste.