Industry Fears DOE Nuclear Waste Panel Might Exclude Company Experts

Industry Fears DOE Nuclear Waste Panel Might Exclude Company Experts
28 October 2009
Energy Washington Week, IEPA, Vol. 6, No. 43
Copyright © 2009, Inside Washington Publishers. All rights reserved. Also available in print and online as part of www.EnergyWashington.com.
Amid growing nuclear power industry expectations that DOE could be planning an imminent announcement of its long-anticipated "blue ribbon" panel on the future of nuclear waste storage, possibly as soon as the end of this month, the industry is apprehensive because so far they have no indications from DOE that the department's panel will include industry representatives.

The industry sees the resolution of waste storage issues as essential in planning for new nuclear power plants and thus is eagerly awaiting forward movement on the long-delayed DOE panel of experts. At the same time, the industry wants a place on the panel and has sent the names of possible industry experts who could serve, but has not received any reply from DOE. In addition, says a source with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), DOE has distanced itself from industry and has not responded to NEI invitations to meet.
NEI, state and other industry sources have been pressing DOE for months to give some indication as to when the panel will be formed. They have monitored press accounts in which DOE officials and Energy Secretary Steven Chu have said the announcement will be soon, but have seen months go by without action. The NEI source says that they are definitely hearing something from administration channels -- although the source could not elaborate -- that something may actually occur "soon," despite the inaction following previous rumors of a DOE announcement.

Up to this point, NEI as well as other industry and state sources have grown skeptical of the rumors about the blue ribbon panel and its formation. And one state regulatory source goes so far as to say he has begun to doubt the DOE even plans to form a commission to sort out the national debacle over what to do with spent waste from nuclear power plants, now that the administration says Yucca Mountain is no longer an option.
But now industry is more hopeful that they will see an announcement in the late October-November timeframe. Whether or not the panel gives industry a place on the panel is another issue, say industry sources.
Sources following DOE's nuclear policy developments closely say the administration would be wise to act soon or potentially push off development of a post-Yucca plan by several years and set the federal government up for increased litigation over DOE not securing the waste from power plants and removing it to be stored at Yucca Mountain.
One industry source underscores that news that an announcement could be imminent comes at a time when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and DOE have crossed a milestone in the review of DOE's Yucca Mountain license application. NRC and DOE made significant headway last week in getting through a large portion of unresolved issues involving some of the hundreds of requests for additional information, or RAIs, sent from NRC to DOE for further explanation on aspects of the Yucca license.
State sources say that when talking to DOE about the blue ribbon panel they immediately point to the work the department is doing with NRC to finish their joint review of the Yucca Mountain application process. Now that NRC and DOE have gotten through some of the major hurdles associated with the application, the administration may be gauging if this is the right time to announce the panel, these sources suggest.