GAO report criticizes Yucca methods

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department has failed to fix "persistent" problems in the way it backs up its science, which could cause a delay in the Yucca Mountain project, according to a draft copy of a General Accounting Office report.

The 40-page report, which was obtained by the Sun, criticizes the project's quality assurance program, which is supposed to verify the science backing up the department's reasoning and safety of the project.

The GAO found that the backup work, which documents all of the evidence scientists use to reach technical conclusions, has incomplete data or is missing the source of data that the Energy Department is basing some of its conclusions on, among other problems.

"An ineffective quality assurance program runs the risk of introducing unknown errors into the design and construction of the repository that could lead to adverse health and safety consequences," according to the draft report.

Contractor Bechtel and subcontractor Navarro Quality Services is supposed to check and double-check that all the scientific data, models and technical information can be traced back to support its conclusions.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to use the quality assurance work to verify the science and technical research behind the Energy Department's license application, which the department plans to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this year.

This is how the department expects to prove to the commission it can safely store 77,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Problems with quality assurance for the Yucca Mountain project have been around since 1988 and although the department has attempted to fix things, the GAO report said five years of internal department assessments and comments by the NRC show that the department still has not made all of the necessary improvements. The GAO cited problems with computer software, the models the scientists use to show how the repository will work and the origin of the data used to make the conclusions.

As of September, the department could not show how some data had been collected or trace it back to its source.

"DOE (Energy Department) officials stressed that the problems have not affected the technical content or validity of the scientific basis for the safety of waste disposal at Yucca Mountain," the report says. "They explained that the problems all relate to documentation, clarity, completeness or transparency supporting the technical information."

But the GAO report said proving the adequacy of its work is "one of DOE's most important tasks" since it is depending on more than a thousand data sources, close to 60 computer models and more than 400 computer codes to simulate how the repository will work.

A separate evaluation by the commission released two weeks ago reached a similar conclusion, saying the licensing process would be delayed if the department did not improve its technical documentation. The NRC evaluation was still going on at the time of the GAO investigation, according to the report.

The department is in the midst of reviewing technical documents to see how it can improve them before submitting them to the commission.

Margaret Chu, head of the Energy Department's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said there were "major deficiencies" in the draft report. She said the GAO did not look at "some highly pertinent information" during its investigation that had positive conclusions.

"Where GAO sees 'continuing problems,' we see a measurable record of progress to date and a commitment to continuing improvement in the future," Chu said.

In an April 19 letter sent to the GAO, Chu said the quality assurance program "has made significant progress and is operating effectively."

She said the report does not "acknowledge the clear QA (quality assurance) improvements we have made," including strengthening an environment where employees can raise concerns on the quality or safety of the work.

Chu also emphasized the department solved problems with data management software in March and problems with models should be rectified in the next four months.

"It is understood by the department, by the NRC, and by knowledgeable outside observers that the repository program must meet rigorous quality assurance expectations for our license application to be acceptable to the commission," Chu wrote.

The project is still on track to submit the license in December, Chu said.

Joe Egan, of Egan, Fitzpatrick, Malsch and Cynkar, the Virginia law firm hired by Nevada to handle Yucca legal issues, said the Quality Assurance problems are what led to the commission's conclusion.

"It is clear they don't understand the culture of the NRC," Egan said. "Quality assurance is a hot-button issue at the NRC, so the outcome is predictable. With these types of Quality assurance problems, NRC could not approve this application."

The General Accounting Office press office said a final copy of the report would be released by Friday to Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., who requested the report last year. Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said a full copy of the report would be released to the public after the office receives it.

Reid, who has seen an advance copy of the report, said the results did not surprise him but that this time he has proof from Congress' watchdog on problems with the project.

"If this was a test that GAO gave, the Department of Energy failed it and has to take it over," Reid said. "They (Energy Department officials) have to study real hard. They haven't studied but thought they could bluff their way through this exam."

Egan called the report "devastating" for the department and something a project developer would not want to see, especially with just seven months to go before the license submission.

But Steve Kraft, director of waste management at the Nuclear Energy Institute, said the department is already on track to make further improvements in how it manages its data and knows where the problems exist.

Kraft, who had not seen the report Tuesday, said it is not too late in the game to make changes since work can continue even after the application goes to the commission. He also said the department has made "tremendous improvement" in quality assurance and the industry is comfortable that it will be in the right shape when the license gets filed.

Rod McCullum, NEI senior project manager for waste management, said recent correspondence between the commission and the department has shown improvement in the documentation and, although it has adjusted its schedule, will still complete the work on time.

"The project is making the right transition forward at the right time," McCullum said.