State seeks draft copy of Yucca license application

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 | 9:58 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawyers have filed a petition to obtain a draft copy of the Yucca Mountain license application, which Energy Department officials have declined to make public.

The document is a massive compilation of research on the mountain site and seeks permission from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin construction of a national high-level nuclear waste repository.

The draft was delivered to the department by its top Yucca contractor, Bechtel, in late July 2004. Nevada officials are eager to begin poring over it as they compile a comprehensive catalog of what they consider flaws in the proposed project.

The department aims to file the license application early next year. Nevada officials want an early look at the document because they plan to mount a massive challenge to the project during a three- to four-year NRC licensing process.

"It's been sitting now for more than 10 months, and there is no good reason not to allow Nevada to see it, other than to obstruct Nevada's ability to prepare for the licensing proceeding," said Charles Fitzpatrick, one of the lawyers from a Virginia-based firm hired by the state to manage Yucca legal work.

But Energy Department officials have refused to make the document public, denying a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the state, and brushing aside a February letter from Gov. Kenny Guinn to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.

On Monday the state tried another approach, requesting the document in a brief filed with a three-member, pre-licensing board of the NRC. The department has until June 20 to respond, and Nevada will have until June 28 to reply in turn. The board is expected to rule shortly after that whether Nevada has a right to obtain a draft copy of the license application.

Energy Department spokesman Allen Benson declined to comment on the brief. The license application is still subject to minor revisions, he said. It's not appropriate to release the license application until it is final, Benson said. 6