Editorial: So this is sound science?

Monday, April 18, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.

The Energy Department had for years been planning a design for Yucca Mountain that it could pass off as being safe for 10,000 years. But a federal court last year threw out that standard for the mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas that is being built to hold the nation's high-level nuclear waste. The court deferred to a recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences, which said Yucca Mountain should be designed to safely contain radiation for hundreds of thousands of years.

The Environmental Protection Agency is working on a design that would meet the court's ruling, a task that we are not alone in believing is impossible. Because it's impossible, we have been expecting attempts to circumvent the court's ruling. A 132-page report by the Electric Power Research Institute is one such attempt. Its conclusion is that the 10,000-year radiation standard should be retained, and that the federal government should allow heavier leaks of radiation after that time has elapsed.

This institute, funded by the majority of the power companies in the United States, is a strong supporter of nuclear power. Its conflicts of interest should be enough to destroy the credibility of its report. But we believe its conclusion will do the job. Essentially, it's saying that it doesn't matter if we contaminate the Nevadans who will be here 10,000 years from now. Heaven help us all if this is an example of the type of "sound science" President Bush says he wants applied to Yucca Mountain.