Nevada meeting on Yucca is added

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

Monday, Oct. 3, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Amargosa Valley Community Center 821 Eas Farm Road, Amargosa Valley, NV Information Session 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Roundtable Dialogue Session 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Public Hearing 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

The Cashman Center, Rooms 203-206 850 North Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

Tuesday, Oct. 4 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Information Session 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Roundtable Dialogue Session 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Public Hearing 7 p.m. - 9p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 5 10a.m. - 12 p.m. Information Session 10a.m. - 11.m. Public Hearing 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 6 10 a.m .- 12 p.m. Information Session 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. Public Hearing 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. EPA East Building, Room 1153 1201 Constitution Avenue, NW Information Session 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. Public Hearing 2 p.m. -4 p.m. Please use the Constitution Ave. entrance and bring a photo ID.

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency approved an additional hearing in Nevada next month to allow those observing the Rosh Hashanah holiday to participate in public comment meetings on Yucca Mountain radiation standards.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who is Jewish, requested an additional hearing because those originally scheduled conflict with the Jewish holiday, which starts at sundown on Oct. 3 and ends at sundown on Oct. 5.

The EPA added another hearing in Las Vegas on Oct. 6.

The public hearing comment periods last through Oct. 21. Nevada officials have called for a longer period, but the agency has not made a final decision.

The EPA has proposed two-tier radiation standard for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

One tier maintains the 15-millirem standard for up to 10,000 years, and the other limits exposure to 350 millirem per year for 10,000 to 1 million years.

State officials and other Yucca critics object to the standard saying there is no reason the radiation limit should increase so drastically, especially at the time when the waste storage containers inside the mountain would likely fail.

The state plans more legal action but the rule has to be finalized first. Once the public comment period ends, the agency will evaluate the comments and could make changes it deems necessary.