DOE announces public comment period on Yucca Mountain Project
The American Nuclear Society has been invited by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, to comment on the Yucca Mountain Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation (view invitation). Detailed information is located on the Yucca Mountain Project web site at http://www.ymp.gov/timeline/psse/comment_psse.htm.
Friday, October 19, 2001, is the new deadline established for written comments to be submitted to the DOE. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham ordered the extended comment period. The press release is located at http://ymp.gov/new/extcommentpr.htm.
ANS sent an announcement to its members outlining the current status of public hearings and the public comment period. Additional information about the hearings and providing comments are available as follows.
Press Release issued by Secretary of Energy Abraham:http://ymp.gov/new/pssepr.htm
Mail or fax written comments to:
Carol Hanlon
S&ER Products Manager
U. S. Department of Energy
Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office
P.O. Box 30307 M/S 025
North Las Vegas, NV 89036-0707
Fax number: 1-800-967-0739
Federal Register notice, 66 FR 45845, August 30, 2001
Members of the Nevada Local Section of ANS have presented a written statement on behalf of the section. The following information is provided for ANS members and others who would like to comment on the evaluation.
Comments about the Yucca Mountain Project
- For about two decades, there have been in-depth scientific studies of Yucca Mountain. The studies have covered hydrology, geology, seismology and more.
- Throughout these studies, teams of scientists have found no evidence that would disqualify Yucca Mountain as a site for a permanent repository for high level radioactive waste.
- This research has been continually reviewed by regulatory, advisory and scientific peer groups.
- Earlier reports, such as those from the National Academy of Sciences and the DOE's draft environmental impact statement, have presented a strong case for the development of a repository as the safest and most economical way to dispose of used fuel rods from commercial nuclear power plants and radioactive waste from government use.
- Storing high level radioactive waste at one location is a better option than continuing to accumulate used fuel at more than 70 sites around the country.
- The proposed repository would have specially engineered containers for holding high level radioactive waste materials and a robust combination of engineered and natural barriers to protect the environment.
- The transportation casks for fuel rods, designed and built to withstand phenomenal rigors, have been put through exhaustive and tortuous testing, withstanding even the destructive forces of a speeding locomotive. Since the mid-1960s, an outstanding safety record has been compiled with about 3,000 shipments of used fuel.
- While scientists and government leaders investigate recycling of used fuel and other advanced methods for treating radioactive waste, it is fairly clear that there will still be a need for a repository for the radioactive byproducts of these processes.
- Legislation enacted in 1982 provided that in exchange for payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund by electricity consumers, the Department of Energy would begin taking spent fuel from utilities by January 31, 1998. That date came and went. Although three federal courts have reaffirmed that DOE has a legal obligation to accept spent fuel, it has accepted none. And, this is despite the fact that consumers of electricity generated by nuclear energy have committed $16 billion to the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for the repository.
