Group seeks DOE quake assessment records

Friday, July 5, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

Citing the Energy Department's rapid conclusion that a recent earthquake did no damage to a proposed nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain, advocacy group Public Citizen has filed a request for the assessment records.

A 4.4 magnitude quake rattled Little Skull Mountain about 12 miles away from the site of Yucca Mountain on June 14. A temblor of 5.6 magnitude jolted the same area in June 1992.

The DOE issued a press release the same day that said, "There was no damage to any Yucca Mountain Project facilities, structures or the underground Exploratory Studies Facility."

A reporter was told 100 scientists and engineers had checked the site.

"How could the DOE have assessed that no damage was done to the entire compound within several hours of the earthquake?" said Tyson Slocum, research director with Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program.

Public Citizen filed the Freedom of Information Act request for all of DOE's damage assessment records on Wednesday.

"Public Citizen finds it curious that such a confident assessment was made just hours after the earthquake," the letter addressed to Yucca Mountain Project Manager Russ Dyer said.

"Since Yucca Mountain sits on one of the most seismically active areas in the U.S., we need to make sure that the government is taking the time to review every nook and cranny to ensure that safety is not being compromised," Slocum said.

The Senate is expected to vote on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump as soon as Tuesday. President Bush and the House have approved the project.

"This rush to judgment is symptomatic of the larger problems with the DOE's Yucca Mountain proposal," Lisa Gue, policy analyst with Public Citizen, said. "The site recommendation, soon to be voted on by the Senate, is dangerously premature at best."

DOE scientists say a repository at Yucca could withstand a 6 or 7 magnitude quake.

Yucca Mountain opponents have argued that a nuclear waste dump should not be built in an earthquake zone. Nevada is the third most seismically active state behind California and Alaska.