Nuke industry says falsified data should not kill Yucca

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, May 6, 2005 | 10:09 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Allegations that falsified scientific data was used to support the creation of a nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain should not kill the project, the Nuclear Energy Institute says.

The reaction from the nuclear industry trade group to the documentation controversy came in an April 29 letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. It is the group's first public statement on the matter since the Energy Department announced March 16 that it had discovered e-mails by U.S. Geological Survey employees that suggest they altered scientific data while working on the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

In the letter, Marvin Fertel, senior vice president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, a major supporter of the Yucca repository, said the department should handle the problems but also continue to prepare the project's license application.

"The recent disclosure of quality assurance non-compliance issues by three U. S. Geological Survey scientists, while egregious on their face, is not a basis for questioning the long-term viability of the Yucca Mountain site," Fertel wrote in the letter.

Fertel wrote that more than 3,000 scientists from five national laboratories, 12 universities, two federal agencies and two local governments did the work necessary to keep the project going while protecting the public and the environment.

"This extensive body of scientific and engineering work was specifically designed to ensure that the site suitability determination at Yucca Mountain is not dependent on any one scientist's work," Fertel wrote.

Ongoing investigations continue into the possibly falsified data. The Interior and Energy department's Inspector General Offices, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI are looking at whether crimes were committed, and the Energy Department is to review the scientific work involved.

Nevada has called for an independent investigation into the matter and Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., who is chairman of the House Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee, is hiring a full-time investigator to work with the subcommittee's staff.

Porter said the institute's letter "is insulting and hypocritical. For example, the letter states that the Yucca Mountain Project was based on science from thousands of scientists and should not be dependent on one scientist's work. However, as any scientist knows, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. It's obvious that the nuclear industry realizes the severity of the issues plaguing the Yucca Mountain Project."