NRC nominees not on level playing field on Yucca issues

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The two newest members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have to play by different rules, at least for a year, when it comes to work related to Yucca Mountain, and that has the critics of the nuclear dump crying foul.

Peter Lyons, was sworn in as an NRC commissioner today after serving eight years as a nuclear adviser to Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., one of the Senate biggest proponents of nuclear power and storing nuclear waste at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Lyons, a Nevada native, has a two-year term on the commission as part of a deal struck late last year among Domenici, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the White House to get Greg Jaczko, Reid's science adviser, a seat on the commission. Commissioners usually serve five-year terms, but Lyons and Jaczko will each serve two years and will have to be re-nominated by the White House to retain their seats.

Jaczko was sworn in last week, but will have to recuse himself from Yucca matters for one year, based on the deal made in the Senate.

Domenici spokeswoman Marnie Funk said Lyons has no restrictions on Yucca-related work. She said Jaczko's nomination was "very controversial" and senators who opposed his nomination made clear the whole Senate would not confirm him.

"Mr. Lyons nomination has not been controversial, there was no such request from senators or the White House and he will be dealing with Yucca Mountain issues," Funk said.

But Yucca critics question the double standard, particularly because they feel Lyons worked as closely with Domenici in favor of nuclear power as Jaczko worked with Reid against it.

"That is immensely unbalanced and unfair," said Michele Boyd, an analyst with the watchdog group Public Citizen, who follows Yucca. She said time will tell if Jaczko will emerge as an influential Yucca critic.

"It's not clear to me yet what one person can do in a group of five," Boyd said, referring to the fact that there are five commissioners.

The Nuclear Energy Institute, which opposed Jaczko's nomination, has no problem with Lyons on the commission without restrictions, spokesman Mitch Singer said.

Singer has said all along the group feels it would be inappropriate for a former nuclear industry executive to get a seat on the commission or anyone with a clear bias one way or the other, such as Jaczko, to be in charge of regulating the industry.

"We don't feel Lyons falls into that category," Singer said.

Singer said Lyons has been involved in overall energy issues for some time and has never really taken a position on Yucca Mountain.

There wasn't much time for Reid to offer an objection to the conditions of Lyons' appointment even if he had wanted to, Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. The White House on Wednesday tapped Lyons to fill the second vacancy after the other Republican nominee former Navy Vice Admiral Albert Konetzni withdrew his name.

"It happened very quickly," she said.

But Reid isn't too concerned about the different set of rules for Lyons because the senator has a lot of respect for Lyons as scientist and as a fair arbiter of Yucca issues, Hafen said.

Reid aides also have noted that it is unlikely that the NRC will be acting much on Yucca this year, given that the Energy Department project is behind schedule and given that its application to construct the repository has not yet been submitted.