Editorial: A vision of future shock

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 8:40 a.m.

Those who feel confident in the Energy Department's assurances that Yucca Mountain will safely contain nuclear waste should reflect on the department's regard for the safety of its drilling contractors. Tunneling began in 1992 and for the following eight years the workers' risk of contracting a fatal lung disease held a lower priority than keeping on schedule. Memos uncovered by the Sun's Washington reporter, Suzanne Struglinski, prove that the Energy Department had early warning about the danger silica dust poses to tunnelers. Yet it failed to warn or protect them.

A memo dated July 1992, from the department's safety manager to the Yucca Mountain project manager, for example, outlines a silica sampling plan that should have been undertaken during the boring. Another memo, dated August 1994, from the Yucca project's assistant manager for environment, safety and health, warned the project's technical office that those working in the tunnel "must use appropriate respiratory protection." Two years later this assistant manager sent another memo to the technical staff, saying that the disposable respirators in use were not providing sufficient protection.

These memos, and several others that were among nearly 6 million pages the Energy Department submitted in June as part of its application for a license to open Yucca Mountain, prove that the Energy Department was well aware of the silica danger. Yet for years the department did not warn the workers. And it failed to ensure that proper equipment was worn and that proper safeguards, such as ventilation, were undertaken.

An April 2001 memo shows the Energy Department understood its liability. Written by a department industrial hygienist, the memo advised that workers exposed to silica, which causes incurable lung disease, be monitored "through the rest of their lives." The memo warned that the issue "may become newsworthy" and that "lawsuits, public affairs and medical surveillance will be shared problems."

The memo was prescient about lawsuits. A class-action suit was filed earlier this year by former tunnel workers. Before the suit was filed, but in response to pressure from former workers, the department began a program to screen former workers for any signs of silicosis. We view the Energy Department's disregard of silica danger as analogous to its whole approach to Yucca Mountain -- driven by deadlines, not science or safety. What is Nevada not being warned about? What after-the-fact mitigation program awaits us?