Columnist Jeff German: Reid, Ensign set to show Yucca flaws

Wednesday, May 7, 2003 | 11:02 a.m.

Spirits are high on Team Nevada as it prepares for its latest Yucca Mountain skirmish with the Department of Energy.

Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign are holding a hearing in Las Vegas May 28 to expose what they believe is the DOE's inability to guarantee that the nearby project is safe to store high-level nuclear waste.

"I think it's a big deal -- very big deal," Reid said Tuesday.

We've seen hearings on Yucca Mountain before. So why is this one such a big deal?

Because for the first time, Team Nevada has a chance to bring forward whistleblowers who have knowledge of flaws in the DOE's quality assurance program at Yucca Mountain. Several workers have surfaced to voice concerns within the past year, some as recently as last week.

The quality assurance program is designed to preserve data collected over the years that supports the DOE's conclusion that Yucca Mountain is scientifically sound to accept the deadly nuclear waste. How well the DOE is able to prove that could determine whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gives the DOE a license to operate Yucca Mountain. The DOE has said it plans to submit its application by December 2004.

Reid and Ensign still are trying to figure out their witness list, but you've got to believe they want the testimony of a whistleblower or two. The hearing is being conducted under the auspices of the Senate's energy and water subcommittee, where Reid is the ranking Democrat. Other committee members, however, aren't likely to attend, which means there will be pressure on Reid and Ensign to present solid evidence or risk looking like they're grandstanding.

The senators have a chance here to start the process of unraveling the DOE's case for storing nuclear waste 90 miles from Las Vegas.

One potential witness would be James Mattimoe, a quality assurance manager who was fired after raising concerns about the project.

Members of an auditing team recently reassigned after uncovering flaws in Yucca Mountain work procedures also should qualify for the witness list. At least one auditor, 14-year Yucca Mountain veteran Don Harris, publicly spoke out about his reassignment and got his job back.

Any of these workers would provide dramatic fodder for the congressional record as to how far the DOE is willing to go to cover up its scientific failings. It wouldn't sound the death knell for Yucca Mountain, but it could give Team Nevada a chance to pick up momentum in a fight it's losing. Who knows? It might even encourage other Yucca Mountain workers who have knowledge of wrongdoing to step forward.

If the senators can't deliver the whistleblowers, the hearing will be viewed as just another in a long line of attempts to publicly embarrass the DOE. And it will give the federal agency even more confidence in its ability to steamroll Yucca Mountain through the licensing process.

But if Reid and Ensign can deliver, the hearing could set off a chain reaction that will prove what Nevadans have been saying all along -- the DOE hasn't played fair and can't guarantee that Yucca Mountain will be safe.