Letter: NRC not objective on Yucca Mountain

Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007 | 2:23 a.m.

Stephen Burns, deputy general counsel for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, stated in a letter Friday that the staff of the NRC will not be an advocate for either side in a potential licensing proceeding for the Yucca Mountain repository. This is an incorrect statement.

By the NRC's own regulations, the NRC staff, once the licensing proceeding begins, becomes the actual advocate for the project alongside the Energy Department. The State of Nevada formally petitioned the NRC a few years ago to have this regulation changed but the NRC denied Nevada's petition.

It is more than disingenuous for Mr. Burns, who not only works for the NRC, but is also in the very office that was largely responsible for this denial, to attempt to assure Nevadans that we can rely on the NRC's neutrality and objectivity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The NRC has been working hand in glove with the Energy Department over the past 20 years and is in its third licensing ruling change for Yucca Mountain, each time watering down critical health and safety regulations and eliminating all disqualifying conditions in an attempt to ensure the project becomes a reality.

The truth is that the NRC is as much an advocate for the project as the Energy Department. Mr. Burns should know better.

Bob Loux, Carson City

The writer is executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.