Nuclear Waste:  Yucca Mountain Site Goes Dry

The water supply to the U.S. Energy Department Yucca Mountain Project site in Nevada was reduced to near nothing yesterday when temporary well permits expired.  Meanwhile, Congress began the Yucca Mountain debate with the introduction of a Senate resolution to approve the site as a nuclear waste repository (see GSN, April 9).

Energy’s temporary permits to draw 140 million gallons of water per year from five wells in Yucca Mountain’s Nye County expired yesterday at midnight, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  The department plans to abide by Nevada’s decision to deny an extension of the permits, said a Yucca Mountain Project spokesman.

“We have no need to draw water for operations right now and we’re going to abide by the law,” Allen Benson said.

The department had expected that the well permits would not be extended and built and filled a million-gallon water tank near the mountain, according to the Review-Journal.  The stockpiled water, along with 400,000 gallons stored in several smaller tanks, is enough to allow scientists at the project site to continue design work and needed experiments, Benson said.

In February, Nevada State Engineer Hugh Ricci denied an extension of Energy’s permits, saying the water was no longer needed to study the site.  On April 1, Justice Department lawyers attempted to obtain a preliminary injunction, saying Energy should be allowed access to water while Congress decides whether Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn’s veto of the site should stand.

Nevada Senior Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams said she would oppose the injunction request in court papers scheduled to be filed next week.

“We’re pretty serious about this,” Adams said Monday.  “We really do feel that until Congress acts (on Guinn’s veto) the project is dead” (Keith Rogers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 10).

Senator Introduces Resolution

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) yesterday introduced a joint resolution approving Yucca Mountain as the site of a long-term nuclear waste repository, as required under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act (see GSN, March 29).

The resolution will be referred to committee for 60 days and must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law 90 legislative days from Guinn’s veto, which was filed Monday, in order to overturn the veto.  Bingaman said he plans to schedule hearings on President George W. Bush’s recommendation of the site in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee after the Senate completes action on pending energy legislation.

Beginning with the introduction of the joint resolution, the congressional debate over Yucca Mountain will serve two goals, Bingaman said on the floor of the Senate.

“It will afford the state of Nevada a fair hearing on its objections to the repository and will ensure that those objections stand unless the administration can persuade both houses of Congress to override them,” he said.  “At the same time, it will give the administration an opportunity to present its case and to override the state’s objections if it can show its decision was sound and in the national interest” (Congressional Record, April 9).

Senator Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) yesterday spoke in favor of the joint resolution approving the site.

The Yucca Mountain waste repository is necessary to continue operating U.S. nuclear power plants and to clean up Energy Department Cold War-legacy sites that have nuclear waste, Murkowski said on the floor of the Senate.  The federal government also has an obligation for the spent fuel, and in order to meet that obligation, a waste repository must soon be operational, he said.

“To date, we have spent over 20 years and over $4 billion to investigate and characterize the site,” Murkowski said.  “The science tells us this is the place” (Congressional Record, April 9).

Representative Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) spoke in favor of Guinn’s veto.

“Almost two decades ago when Nevada was given the right to cast this veto, we were under the impression that a recommendation on Yucca Mountain would be based on sound science, assuring the safety and security of Nevadans and every American,” he said on the floor of the House of Representatives.  “Instead, the process has been riddled with bias, and the [Energy] recommendation was based on political expediency.”

“I urge my colleagues to join Nevada’s governor and delegation in opposing a project that is immeasurably dangerous to every American,” Gibbons said (Congressional Record, April 9).

PR Campaign Gets Underway

Nevada has begun an anti-Yucca Mountain advertising campaign in an attempt to convince Americans to pressure their legislators to stop the project, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal (see GSN, April 2).

The campaign will highlight the potential dangers to people who live near the planned waste shipment routes to Yucca Mountain, said Mark Brown, head of one of the advertising agencies hired by Nevada for the effort.

“We are going to scare them with facts,” Brown said.  “When they find out 3,000 to 4,000 shipments (a year) are coming through their communities, let’s see how much they want Yucca Mountain.  Some of these communities have only volunteer fire departments.”

Nevada Governor Guinn wants state legislators to provide more funds for the advertising effort, the Review-Journal reported.  The Nevada Legislature Interim Finance Committee is expected today to debate allocating an additional $3 million.  Brown’s advertising agency and a Washington-based advertising agency would be the main recipients of the additional money, according to the Review-Journal.

“More (money) is always better,” said Ed Rothchild, an executive at the Washington-based agency.  “But I think the issues and the arguments are on our side.”

Last year Nevada already gave $1 million to the advertising agencies involved in the anti-Yucca campaign, and $50,000 of that has already been spent, Brown said.  The ad campaign began Monday with full-page advertisements in Nevada newspapers to strengthen the support of about 80 percent of Nevadans who oppose the project, he said.

Even though the additional funding the advertising agencies hope to receive will not be able to buy as much television time as needed, Brown said he plans to place advertisements in states where senators might be undecided on Yucca Mountain.  With the help of Nevada Senators Harry Reid (D) and John Ensign (R), Nevada might only need to persuade 10 senators to back Guinn’s veto, Brown said (Ed Vogel, Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 9).

Nevada’s anti-Yucca Mountain campaign, however, has failed to raise the $10 million the state says it needs and is now soliciting $1 donations, according to the Associated Press.

Guinn was initially able to raise $6 million from state and local governments, as well as some Nevada businesses.  Only $2.5 million of that is left though, and that is being kept in reserve for anticipated legal battles, Guinn said.

“We have to convince everybody that this isn’t just Nevada’s problem,” said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (see GSN, March 14).  “We have to alert, not alarm, senators’ constituents about the potential of a disaster happening in their back yards so they tell their elected officials, ‘Don’t let this come by my house.’”

Guinn decided against calling a special session of the Nevada Legislature to fund the anti-Yucca Mountain effort once it became clear he did not have the needed support, the AP reported.  Nevada is facing a $100 million deficit and some state lawmakers believe the campaign will have little effect in stopping repository plans, according to the AP.

“I think the people of Nevada are increasingly prepared to say it’s time to talk about benefits, what we can get in return,” said consultant and former Nevada Governor Robert List.  “I think citizens and businesses of Nevada feel that this is wasted money, that this is a done deal” (Ken Ritter, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, April 10).

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Radiological Weapons:  Hundreds of Radioactive Devices Lost Each Year

Hundreds of radioactive devices with civilian uses are stolen, lost or abandoned in the United States each year, causing concern among officials and analysts that terrorists could easily acquire radioactive material to create a dirty bomb, the Christian Science Monitor reported today.

There are two million small radioactive devices in the United States that are used in a variety of areas, including construction and health care, the Monitor reported.  Authorities find only a small number of the hundreds of items lost each year and 30,000 are unaccounted for, according to some estimates.

Some of the items have very small amounts of radioactive material.  For example, many emergency exit signs use radioactive isotopes for power rather than electricity.  If someone broke the signs, the exposure to radiation would be less than a dentist’s X-ray.

Numerous items, however, could have more serious effects.  The food industry uses pencil-sized rods to irradiate food that could kill someone directly exposed to them.  An Alabama pawnshop owner recently came across a small piece of iridium-192 that had been stolen from a pipeline company.  The iridium was protected by depleted uranium to prevent radiation leaks, but two hours of exposure to unshielded material could be fatal, experts said.

Easy to Steal?

Thieves would need special equipment and knowledge to steal some of the most lethal items such as the food irradiation rods.  Devices that cause the most concern are ones that are very dangerous but easy to handle, according to the Monitor.

In March, a Maryland construction site reported the theft of a radioactive moisture-density gauge used to determine whether fresh concrete is completely dry.  Such devices usually contain several grams of cesium-137 and are very radioactive, according the Monitor.  However, they are easier to handle than more toxic items.

Easy to Use?

Not all radioactive devices would be very useful to terrorists.  Many items contain very low levels of radiation.  Nevertheless, terrorists could create a dangerous “dirty bomb” — a conventional explosive laced with radioactive material — by collecting several minor radiation sources, said Friedrich Steinhausler, a Stanford University nuclear physicist.

“If you were going around snatching these smaller devices over a period of years and putting them all in a truck bomb, it could be as powerful as a bomb with a single, big radiation source,” said Edwin Lyman of the Nuclear Control Institute.

Accounting and Security

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working to find ways to monitor radioactive devices, the Monitor reported (see GSN, March 18).

“We’re looking at requiring licensees to increase security,” said John Hickey, chief of the NRC division that oversees such devices.  That might only mean better locks and storage facilities, and some experts have said that is not enough, according to the Monitor.

Increasing security, however, would also increase the costs of construction, healthcare and other industries that rely on radioactive tools, Lyman said.  The balance between security and cost “is a tough societal question,” he said.

Theft is not the only problem.  Disposing of one cubic foot of cesium-137 costs $400, said Lyudmila Zaitseva of Stanford University’s Institute for International Studies (see GSN, March 7).  That is 10 times more than a fine for improper disposal.  The economic solution for some companies could be abandoning the material, Zaitseva said (Abraham McLaughlin, Christian Science Monitor, April 10).

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Nuclear Waste:  Capitol Hill Takes on Yucca Mountain

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and the state’s congressional delegation today attacked plans to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, as the battle over the site moves into Congress (see GSN, April 8).

At a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Guinn said he vetoed the site yesterday on behalf of the residents of Nevada and the more than 120 million people that live near planned waste shipment routes.  The decision to build the repository at Yucca Mountain is based on bad science and bad policy, he said.

“We know for sure it is bad public policy,” Guinn said.

With Guinn’s veto of the Yucca Mountain site — the first by a governor over a presidential action — the decision whether to build a repository at the site goes to Congress, which can overturn the veto by a simple majority in both houses.  If it wishes to reverse Guinn’s move, Congress must act within “90 days of continuous session” following the veto, according to the law creating the veto mechanism.  The veto will force Congress to deal with the Yucca Mountain issue in an open and public debate, Guinn said.

“We may be small as a state, but we’re politically potent,” he said.

Uphill Climb

Nevada officials assembled at the press conference all agreed that it will not be easy to defeat the Yucca Mountain plan in Congress.

The fight in the Senate will be difficult, said Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has led the anti-Yucca Mountain effort.  Public and constituency pressure, however, could sway senators to oppose the plan, he said.

“Nuclear waste is not a problem for Nevadans.  It’s a problem for all Americans,” Reid said.  “Once people know about the dangers of nuclear waste, they don’t want it going through their backyards.”

It is fiscally irresponsible to build a waste repository at Yucca Mountain, said Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.).  The plan would cost more than all of the U.S. aircraft carriers combined, he said, adding that it is “a multibillion dollar boondoggle.”  Ensign plans to encourage debate in Senate steering committees, the senator said.

Guinn said there will be a “tremendous uphill fight” in the House of Representatives, but in the Senate he hopes to add to the three Republicans and 32 Democrats who opposed the plan the last time senators were able to vote on the issue (see GSN, March 19).

Representative Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) said she will be working in the House to gain support for defeating the plan.

“We will do everything … to defend the state of Nevada and the people we represent, Berkley said.

Berkley said she plans to hold hearings in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the safety and security of waste shipments to Yucca Mountain (see GSN, March 14).  She also said she will meet tonight with House Whip officials to develop strategies to gain votes in the House.

“We will do everything we can to help our two senators … fight Yucca Mountain in the Senate,” Berkley said.

Taking the Mountain to the Courts

A parallel anti-Yucca Mountain effort is running in the U.S. legal system, Guinn said (see GSN, Feb. 26).

“We think our court case is very, very strong,” he said.

One lawsuit filed by Nevada claims the Energy Department changed the site suitability rules to avoid addressing flaws at the Yucca Mountain site, Guinn said in his veto announcement.  The lawsuit alleges that the department changed the rules after determining that Yucca Mountain was not geologically safe — as previously required — without notifying Congress, according to Guinn.

The department then declared that Yucca Mountain is a suitable site for a waste repository under the revised rules, which do not account for geology, Guinn said as he delivered his veto to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.).

“To Nevadans, we are like passengers sitting on the runway in a brand new experimental aircraft for 17 hours while mechanics crawl all over the plane inspecting it.  After this enormously long wait, the mechanics finally determine the plane is unfit to fly,” Guinn said in his statement.  “At the same time, bureaucrats come on the loudspeakers:  ‘Not to worry folks.  We’ve just changed the flight fitness rules, and the plane will be taking off in 17 seconds.’”

“Needless to say that’s a plane none of us would dare dream of flying,” he said.  “But that is exactly what DOE has done with Yucca Mountain.”

Is There a Better Plan?

A better plan to deal with spent nuclear fuel would be to place it in dry cask storage at U.S. nuclear power plants, rather than accruing the risks involved in shipment, Guinn said.  Spent fuel rods kept in dry cask storage would be safe for 100 years, he said.  Within that time, alternatives would probably be developed, Guinn added.

With the science and funding available for this problem, “we can come up with a better solution,” he said.

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Nuclear Waste:  Nevada Governor Vetoes Yucca Mountain

Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn is leaving for Washington today to veto U.S. President George W. Bush’s recommendation to designate Yucca Mountain as the site of a long-term nuclear waste repository (see GSN, March 29).

The action will be the first state veto of a U.S. president, according to a press release from Guinn’s office (Nevada Governor’s Office release, April 2).

Under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the issue will then go to Congress, which needs a simple majority in both houses to override the veto.  A congressional vote on Guinn’s veto of Yucca Mountain is expected before August, the Associated Press reported.

Former White House Chiefs of Staff John Podesta and Kenneth Duberstein are heading the Yucca Mountain opposition effort (see GSN, March 19).  The campaign will focus on safety concerns over both the repository site and thousands of shipments of nuclear waste to the site (see GSN, March 14).

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been handing out miniature toy trucks to illustrate the point that full-scale models of the canister that would be used to ship the nuclear waste to site have not been tested, according to the AP.

Yucca Mountain opponents, however, have not been able to raise the $10 million that they say they need to conduct an adequate television advertising campaign to garner support, especially in states where senators facing re-election have not said how they will vote on the veto, the AP reported.  In past votes, the Senate has voted to support the Yucca Mountain site, according to the AP.

“We have had bipartisan support in the past and we think it will be there in the future,” said Steve Kerekes, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the main lobbying group for the nuclear power industry (Associated Press/New York Times, April 7).

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Radiological Weapons:  IAEA Secures Radiation Sources in Kabul

A team of U.N. experts and authorities has secured several sources of radiation in Kabul, Afghanistan, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday (see GSN, March 20).

The sources, including an old radiotherapy machine in a Kabul hospital that contained cobalt-60, were discovered late last month during a U.N. environmental monitoring mission.  Experts secured the cobalt-60 source within days of its discovery, according to the IAEA.

“The major concern was the cobalt source,” said Khammar Mrabit, head of the IAEA Radiation Monitoring and Protection Services Section.  “Fortunately the radiotherapy machine was intact.  Measurements taken showed low levels of radiation, indicating that the cobalt source was in its shielded position and undamaged.”

IAEA General Director Mohamed ElBaradei sent the team at the request of the Afghan interim government and the U.N. Special Mission to Afghanistan.  The experts measured dose rates of the radiation sources and advised authorities how to store them safely and securely. They also discussed follow-up measures with U.N. and Afghan officials, including measures to improve the Afghan infrastructure for radiation and waste safety (International Atomic Energy Agency release, April 4).

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