Nevada Officials See DOE Yucca Application Withdrawal By Late 2010

502 words\16 December 2009Energy Washington WeekIEPAVol. 6, No. 50EnglishCopyright © 2009, Inside Washington Publishers. All rights reserved. Also available in print and online as part of www.EnergyWashington.com.
Nevada officials closely tracking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of the DOE Yucca Mountain application review anticipate the department will extend the process well into 2010 but will withdraw the license some time after depositions begin in early February on the 225 contentions Nevada has brought against the Yucca waste site but before the late-2010 or early 2011 hearings start.
Since a DOE memo was leaked last month industry and Nevada officials have been anticipating DOE's withdrawal of its application to build a permanent waste facility in Nevada. The memo said that in December DOE would be ending all actions to defend Yucca Mountain against criticisms, prompting nuclear energy industry sources to expect that DOE would by now have announced its application withdrawal because it is getting late for any federal action, according to industry sources. The sources say the DOE memo leak and a lack of overall response by DOE on Yucca Mountain has created confusion among industry observers who hope that the department will provide clarification of its intended waste management strategy once the Yucca license is yanked.
Industry sources are also baffled by DOE and administration foot dragging on the formation of a blue-ribbon commission, which is seen as the federal government's process for defining a new nuclear waste strategy now that the administration has said Yucca Mountain is no longer an option.

One industry source speculates that perhaps President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu could announce the formation of the commission ahead of the president's departure Dec. 18 to attend the international climate change meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, at which industry hopes nuclear power will gain support as a non-emitting option. But the source admits that nothing is certain, and industry has been left in the dark on these issues as repeated requests for meetings with Chu have gone unanswered by DOE.
State officials with Nevada are closer to the process that DOE and the administration are gradually unfolding to fully terminate the Yucca Mountain program, according to state sources. A senior Nevada regulatory source says that DOE has recently indicated to the state that it is not ending its defense activities and is moving forward to answer Nevada's contentions. Depositions on the state's contentions will begin in February, followed by a hearing in late 2010 or early 2011.
DOE met a deadline last week in filing briefs in reply to Nevada defense attorneys' questions concerning the Yucca site's safety. The filing is viewed by state sources as a very real indication that DOE is proceeding with its defense despite last month's memo.
The Nevada regulatory source says it is highly likely that DOE will withdraw the application well before the 2010-2011 hearing. The source also anticipates that the withdrawal of the site application will occur in tandem with Chu's declaring Yucca Mountain unsuitable for use as a permanent waste site.