Yucca is DOE’s toughest task

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 8:58 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Yucca Mountain project is still one of the Energy Department's most difficult challenges, based on a year-end review of its work.

In a special report on "Management Challenges at the Department of Energy," released Wednesday, department Inspector General Gregory Friedman highlighted nuclear waste disposal in the department's programs that are "inherently the most difficult to manage and those with demonstrated performance problems."

There has been improvement, but the report says the department faces the same challenges and risks it has in the past including the national security program, nuclear weapons stockpile maintenance and environmental cleanup, including disposing of nuclear waste at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"The goal of accepting waste into the repository could be affected by various issues such as funding, regulatory ruling, and legal challenges," according to the report.

The review notes than results of another inspector general investigation released in May said the department would face problems in getting the project's document database ready by its self-imposed deadline. Friedman said the department has made "significant progress" in getting the documents ready but there are still obstacles to overcome in getting it done.

The review also notes problems with project's property disposal as part of the department's overall challenge in managing contracts. The inspector general found that the department gave away more than 1,300 pieces of property last year at Yucca Mountain that could have sold for an estimated $458,000.