Beowawe, Nevada

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

First timer? In this once-a-day blog, I have my computer select a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48). I call this “landing.” I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town I land near. I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location. To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is and what the various numbers and abbreviations mean), please see “About Landing,” above.

Dan -  Well, the slide continues.  Four, count ‘em, four WBers in a row.  AZ, then WY, then SD, and now . . . NV; 62/60; 2/10; 7; 168.0.  This is my highest Score since December 1st!   For the 17^th time, I landed in the Humboldt River watershed.  The Humboldt, as I’m sure you know, is the largest single internally-drained watershed in the U.S.  It meanders across northern NV, and ends up in a dead-end lake:  Humboldt Lake.  From Wiki:

The Humboldt River runs through northern Nevada.  At approximately 300 miles (480 km) long, it is the longest river in the arid Great Basin of North America.  It has no outlet to the ocean, but instead empties into the Humboldt Sink. It is the largest river in the United States, in terms of discharge, that does not ultimately reach the ocean. Through its tributaries the river drains most of sparsely populated northern Nevada, traversing the state roughly east to west, and passing through repeated gaps in the north-south running mountain ranges.

http://landingaday.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/beowawe-nevada/

Nevada to file 250 contentions opposing Yucca Mt. licensing

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

The state of Nevada plans to file 250 contentions opposing the
licensing of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, an attorney for the
state said December 4. 
	Martin Malsch told a National Academy of Sciences board that the
contentions will include challenges to the completeness of the respository
design submitted to NRC in June. Some also will challenge DOE's reliance on
titanium drip shields installed over the waste packages to meet regulatory
requirements on radiation releases at the site, he said. The shields, which
DOE plans to install after the waste packages are moved into repository
tunnels, are to protect the waste packages by preventing water from dripping
on them and blunting any impact from falling rocks. However, Malsch said a
repository at Yucca Mountain would not meet regulatory requirements if the
drip shields are not installed as planned or if they are installed improperly.

http://www.platts.com/Nuclear/News/7499340.xml?p=Nuclear/News&sub=Nuclear

Nuclear politics and Nevada

McCain is a longtime supporter of Yucca Mountain; Obama speaks out against it

Sat, Oct 18, 2008 (2:06 a.m.)

The power a president holds over Yucca Mountain was demonstrated in February 2002, when President Bush recommended to Congress that the partially built nuclear waste storage project be completed.

Five months later Congress succumbed to his recommendation, despite Bush’s campaign promise to Nevadans that he would hold off on any Yucca decision until the project had been “deemed scientifically safe.”

No such determination has ever been made. There have been, however, many scientific reports concluding that the project — just 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas — would be very dangerous.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been instrumental in rendering the project inert. Yucca Mountain, however, still has a heartbeat. Whether that heartbeat is stilled or resuscitated depends on the next occupant of the White House.

A story this week by Las Vegas Sun reporter Phoebe Sweet reiterated the positions of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Their views are well worth remembering by Nevadans as they head to the polls — and early voting begins today.

On the campaign trail, McCain has been clear: He supports Yucca Mountain. He cites the billions the federal government has invested in the site and maintains it can be made safe.

Taking his cue from Bush’s “sound science” line, McCain said during a March campaign stop in Las Vegas he would “accede to whatever scientific — credible scientific — opinion is.” Richard Bryan, former Nevada governor and former U.S. senator, told Sweet, “Sound science has become, in the nuanced language of nuclear politics, a wink and a nod to say, ‘I’m all for it.’ ”

There is nothing nuanced about Obama’s position. “I am opposed to Yucca Mountain … I have consistently said that I am opposed to Yucca Mountain, and that will not change,” he said in January.

The opposing views illustrate how important the coming presidential election is for Nevadans.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/oct/18/nuclear-politics-and-nevada/

Nevada sues over radiation standards

Nevada sues over radiation standards

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
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WASHINGTON — It was back to court for Nevada Friday when Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto filed a federal lawsuit asking judges to throw out new radiation limits for the Yucca Mountain project.

The radiation exposure standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency will fail to protect Nevadans “from cancer-causing radioactive contamination” if nuclear waste is buried at the site, Masto said.

Nevada’s official position has been to fight the politically unpopular Yucca project at every turn. It was widely expected that state officials would return to court to challenge the latest EPA regulation that was issued Sept. 30.

“The new EPA standard once again fails to protect the health and safety of Nevada citizens, and the environment,” said Masto. “EPA has obviously worked closely with DOE to adjust its radiation standard in an attempt to steamroll this project through licensing, but has failed to protect Nevadans from cancer-causing radioactive contamination.

“DOE’s own data shows that water infiltration will corrode nuclear waste packages and radioactivity will inevitably leak into Nevada’s groundwater, delivering lethal doses of radiation to the public and irreparably contaminating the groundwater.

“Instead of working to protect the health and safety of Nevadans and striving to find reasonable solutions to the nation’s nuclear waste problem, EPA and DOE are ignoring science in favor of a project which presents unacceptable risks to the public and presents American taxpayers with a $90 billion dollar liability they can ill afford,” she concluded.

Over time Nevada has filed nine lawsuits against the proposed repository.

Most elected officials say they believe it will put residents at risk of transportation accidents and harm the public perception of the state, and also create health and safety uncertainties affecting future generations.

Meanwhile Friday, the Yucca project took a step forward on another front when the Department of Energy issued a formal record of decision to build a rail line from Caliente to the repository site.

DOE published a 51-page document in the Federal Register outlining specific paths along which it plans to run rail through Caliente, Garden Valley, Oasis Valley, South Reveille, Bonnie Claire and Goldfield, after weighing a number of alternative routes through those areas.

The department also confirmed it will share the rail line with ranchers and farmers when it is not being used to move spent nuclear fuel. The Nye County government commissioned a study that concluded the Caliente rail would bring total benefits from $21 million to $67 million.

DOE said the rail line could take between four and 10 years to build. The latest cost estimate, issued this summer, was $2.7 billion.

State officials said Friday they were reviewing the railroad document but were more immediately focused on the lawsuit against the EPA.

Masto accused the EPA of collaborating with the Department of Energy “to steamroll this project,” which is being considered for a construction license.

The seven-page lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Department of Energy referred queries about the lawsuit to the EPA, which had no immediate comment.

The Nevada lawsuit challenges the EPA setting separate “near term” and “long term” radiation limits for people who may live near the repository site thousands of years into the future.

At present Americans receive an average annual dose of 360 millirem from radiation sources in soil, water and vegetation and man-made sources like X-rays, building materials, TVs and video terminals.

For the first 10,000 years after nuclear waste is buried at Yucca, the federal agency set a standard of 15 additional millirem of annual radiation exposure — the equivalent of a chest X-ray.

For thousands of years after that, and for up to one million years, the amount of allowable additional radiation exposure would be 100 millirem annually.

Looked at another way, nuclear safety groups say the regulations set the acceptable cancer risks for people in future generations who would be exposed to repository-related radiation.

In order to win a construction license, DOE must be able to show that the radiation exposure limits could be met. This is done by using computer projections of Yucca Mountain geology and the rust-resistance of waste canisters that will be buried there.

The EPA radiation rule was finalized last week after three years of review within the agency. The agency said the 100 millirem standard has been endorsed by international nuclear organizations.

But the state in its lawsuit charged the EPA misapplied the international standard. It also said the EPA overstepped its authority and made incorrect assumptions in how it formed t
he regulation.

Tip of the hat to:

http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2008/Oct-15-Wed-2008/news/24502890.html

Nevada sues over radiation limit

Nevada sues over radiation limit

Court asked to toss Yucca exposure standard

STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

• Yucca Mountain: Nuclear Waste in Nevada

Catherine Cortez Masto
Attorney general files lawsuit with U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

By STEVE TETREAULT

WASHINGTON — It was back to court for Nevada on Friday when Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto filed a federal lawsuit asking judges to throw out new radiation limits for the Yucca Mountain Project.

The radiation exposure standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency will fail to protect Nevadans “from cancer-causing radioactive contamination” if nuclear waste is buried at the site, Cortez Masto said.

Nevada’s official position has been to fight the politically unpopular Yucca project at every turn. It was widely expected that state officials would return to court to challenge the latest EPA regulation that was issued on Sept. 30.

Over time Nevada has filed nine lawsuits against the proposed repository. Most elected officials say they believe it will put residents at risk of transportation accidents and harm the public perception of the state, and also create health and safety uncertainties affecting future generations.

Meanwhile Friday, the Yucca project took a step forward on another front when the Department of Energy issued a formal record of decision to build a rail line from Caliente to the repository site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

DOE published a 51-page document in the Federal Register outlining rail paths through Caliente, Garden Valley, Oasis Valley, South Reveille, Bonnie Claire and Goldfield, after weighing a number of alternative routes through those areas.

The department also confirmed it will share the rail line with ranchers and farmers when it is not being used to move spent nuclear fuel. The Nye County government commissioned a study that concluded the Caliente rail would bring total benefits from $21 million to $67 million.

DOE said the rail could take between four and 10 years to build. The latest cost estimate, issued this summer, was $2.7 billion.

State officials said Friday they were reviewing the railroad document but were more immediately focused on the lawsuit against the EPA.

Cortez Masto accused the EPA of collaborating with the Department of Energy “to steam-roll this project,” which is being considered for a construction license.

The seven-page lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Department of Energy referred queries about the lawsuit to the EPA, which had no immediate comment.

The Nevada lawsuit challenges the EPA setting separate “near term” and “long term” radiation limits for people who may live near the repository site thousands of years into the future.

At present Americans receive an average annual dose of 360 millirem from radiation sources in soil, water and vegetation, and man-made sources like X-rays, building materials, TVs and video terminals.

For the first 10,000 years after nuclear waste is buried at Yucca, the federal agency set a standard of 15 additional millirem of annual radiation exposure to a theoretical person living 11 miles south in the Amargosa Valley, the equivalent of a chest X-ray.

For thousands of years after that and up to 1 million years, the amount of allowable additional radiation exposure would be 100 millirem annually.

Looked at another way, nuclear safety groups say the regulations set the acceptable cancer risks for people in future generations who would be exposed to repository-related radiation.

In order to win a construction license, DOE must be able to show that the radiation exposure limits could be met. This is done by using computer projections of Yucca Mountain geology and the rust-resistance of waste canisters that would be buried there.

The EPA radiation rule was finalized last week after three years of review within the agency. The agency said the 100 millirem standard has been endorsed by international nuclear organizations.

But the state in its lawsuit charged the EPA misapplied the international standard. It also said the EPA overstepped its authority and made incorrect assumptions in how it formed the regulation.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@ stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.

Nuclear dump lobby takes aim at Nevada

Shelley Berkley

Sun, Sep 21, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Washington — The director of the Nevada office charged with fighting the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump has gotten himself into hot water. Bob Loux is facing serious punishment — or even dismissal — after admitting to lawmakers he gave unauthorized raises to himself and his staff.

There is no question that what happened under his watch deserves a swift response and that he must be held accountable for his actions.

As a state personnel matter, his fate now properly rests with the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, an independent agency that has long been the state’s watchdog over the Yucca Mountain project.

But treachery is already afoot. In the days since the Loux story became public, pro-dump lobbyists in Nevada and Washington have been working to use Loux’s troubles as a tool to undermine Nevada’s long-standing opposition to Yucca Mountain. Efforts are already under way to seize on these events in hope of destroying the commission, which remains one of our first lines of defense against the dump.

The longtime chairman of the commission is none other than former U.S. Sen. and Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan. No one has been more rock-ribbed in fighting the dump. He knows the issue inside and out and is energized by a powerful passion to stop Yucca Mountain to protect generations of Nevadans who would be at risk from this dangerous scheme.

Dismantling the commission he heads, or radically altering its powers, will only further invigorate the pro-dump lobbyists and gut Nevada’s ability to continue the battle against our home’s being turned into a graveyard for toxic radioactive remains.

Nevadans must speak up to be sure the commission remains strong, effective and independent. It must retain its authority to recommend a committed and knowledgeable director for the state’s Yucca Mountain watchdog office when Loux’s tenure comes to an end.

The nuclear industry’s intention is to tar and feather not only Loux, but also Nevada’s entire campaign to stop Yucca Mountain. Although Loux’s name has long been atop the pro-dump enemies list, what the nuke lobby wants most is to discredit Nevada’s anti-dump cause.

Emboldened by recent events, nuclear industry lobbyists have revived the old lie that if Nevada would just roll over and accept the dump, the feds would magically send billions of dollars our way.

The truth has always been that no nuclear waste fairy will suddenly appear with a pile of cash for all in the Silver State to share. But make no mistake — there will be thousands of deadly radioactive shipments on our roads and railways and a mountain of toxic nuclear waste if pro-Yucca Mountain forces succeed.

Meanwhile, these pro-Yucca forces are looking for help from two Republican lawmakers who have already proposed getting rid of our Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, which was established to keep lobbyists and partisanship out of the state’s oversight of the Yucca Mountain Project.

With these nuclear industry lobbyists awakened, on the prowl, and lining up political allies, Nevadans must be alert and carefully follow events in Carson City at this critical time. We must continue to demand that the independent Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects remains in charge of the state’s Yucca Mountain watchdog mission.

I have news for the nuclear industry: Nevada is our home and it will never be for sale as a nuclear dump. That is why I challenge every Nevada elected official to fight industry-backed efforts to defang the office of Nevada’s nuclear watchdog or to water down the role of the appointed commissioners who help guide the fight to protect the health and safety of our families and our communities, and the future of Nevada’s economy.

Shelley Berkley, a Democrat in the U.S. House, represents Nevada’s 1st Congressional District.

Shameless call for material for the book”Shundahai Network: A Decade of Resistance:

In addition to writing this blog I also write 4-5 other blogs and have taken over the responsibility of getting “The Shundahai Network” web site running, again.

After our Founder and Spiritual Leader of the Western Shoshone People passed, last July- Corbin Harney, thing sorta fell apart.

But we are up and running again, I am also getting my 18 year old son enrolled in College in Salt Lake City, UT. In addition I am moving to Las Vegas, to be closer to Yucca Mountain, the proposed High-Level Radioactive Waste Suppository Repository, which is located on Traditional Western Shoshone Lands. These Lands encompass parts of several states, UT, CA, ID and NV . Things have been pretty busy lately and once again I am putting a call out to ask for any Video’s, Audio recordings, memories of Shundahai Network actions and also the same for any Corbin Harney Materials.

Nuclear and Indigenous Items of Interest

This WordPress Bog also dedicated to Corbin Harney has only been live for 3 weeks. it has over 2000+(NOW OVER 5,000+) hit so far and has been mentioned in the WordPress blog also. It is at http://gregornot.wordpress.com/
Come check it out as it will be part of the new Shundahai.org Web site,which is currently undergoing renovations. Please visit “The Shundahai Network” web site at shundahai.org . Please note some of the material is out of date, but soon will be caught up and this blog will be incorporated into the new site.

Here is some info about myself and the book”The Shundahai Network: A Decade of Resistance”( actually the book will cove times prior to the forming of The Shundahai Network and, also times after, Corbin passed, bringing it up to the present day status.

About Gregor

Hi, I’m Gregor Gable but remember that much of the material is a little out of date

I’m a Indigenous Rights, Social Justice and Anti-Nuclear Activist. I believe we need to break the Nuclear Cycle to save this Planet. I worked for 20+ years at the Nevada Test Site, doing non-violent direct actions. I was the very first person arrested at Yucca Mountain. I was arrested uncountable (hundreds) times at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). I am also writing a book “The Shundahai Network: A Decade of Resistance”. In addition, I am making a DVD/CD of Corbin’s Harney(Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader, who has passed over)last Public Sunrise Ceremonies & Songs(with his verbal permission as seen on DVD). If you wish to contribute materials, Audio, visual or memories of Shundahai Network (SN), contact me : gregornot AT gmail.com and I will send my snail mail address for mailing photos or audio or video materials.

Shundahai Friends,

Those of you who wish to send Audio. Video, Photos,Stories or uplifting memories of Corbin Harney (including who,what, where) for part of the book honoring Corbin and the Shundahai Network,”The Shundahai Network: A Decade of Resistance” may mail them to Gregor Gable (Web Master of Shundahai Network Domain and a personal friend of 20 + years) :

All materials will be returned and proper credit will be given in the book. Please print clearly your snail mail address, so that I may return materials, along with a note given me permission to use the materials in this book. This is a Book Corbin Harney authorized me to write, and I have been working on it for quite a while.

This is a record of Corbin’s non-stop fight against radioactivity and his attempts to have the traditional lands returned to the Newe people(after it had been cleaned up) under the Treaty of Ruby Valley 1863 and the people who helped him know as The Shundahai Network.

Shundahai, gregor

Sierra: A meeting of the natural and the nuclear

British artist Chris Drury explores the wilds and atomic legacy of Nevada

By Mel Sheilds – Bee Correspondent
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, August 17, 2008
Story appeared in TICKET section, Page EXPLORE

Photo Caption: “Cloud Pool Chamber” by Chris Drury, formerly installed in the Sierra foothills, is now in the rooftop gallery at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno. DEAN BURTON

See additional images

A total of 559 stones are put together to make a primitive shelter in the main gallery of the Nevada Museum of Art.

The work, titled “Life in the Field of Death and 559 Shelter Stones,” is made up of stones gathered at northern Nevada’s primeval Pyramid Lake. The number 559 represents the genes in the partial DNA genetic code of soil bacteria found at the Nevada Test Site.

And so past meets present, art meets politics, and the country has a chance to meet British artist Chris Drury in his first museum exhibition in the United States. “Mushrooms/Clouds” features paintings, prints, sculptures and video. It also goes far beyond the walls of the museum.

“Mushrooms/Clouds,” its title clearly referring not only to natural phenomena but also to the effects of nuclear explosions, is particularly timely as the national debate continues over the proposed and partially built Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in southern Nevada, and as the Nevada Test Site continues to be the location of anti-weapons demonstrations. The mysticism of various locations in the West is also explored.

According to Ann Wolfe, the museum’s curator, this is an exhibition “that embraces metaphor and analogy as tools for layering multiple meanings. From mushroom spore prints to a sculpture in the form of a nuclear mushroom cloud and videos that explore the cloudlike properties of water and smoke, Drury makes visible the subtle connections between the realms of science, culture, politics and the history of place.

One of Britain’s more prolific and celebrated artists, Drury’s work is in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum, and the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. He recently completed an artist residency with the British Antarctic Survey.

Drury works with natural tools – plants, trees, fungi, water – and fashions objects – caves, cairns, baskets, bundles – making clear conceptual links between the materials as well as making observations on destruction and regeneration, life and death.

A centerpiece of the Nevada exhibition is “Destroying Angel,” a large installation suspended from the ceiling using strands of microfilament tied with bundles of sagebrush, making for a marked similarity between a living mushroom and a nuclear mushroom cloud.

A nearby video shows a burning sage bundle and its smoke, referencing American Indian purification ceremonies.

Adding to the uniqueness of this exhibition, a first for the Nevada Museum of Art, is a commitment to using art as a tool in understanding the environment. Therefore, the museum has collaborated with the FOR-SITE Foundation, the Desert Research Institute, and the Pyramid Lake Museum/Visitor Center for Drury’s creations far from downtown Reno.

“Cloud Pool Chamber,” for instance, was installed in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at the FOR-SITE Foundation in Nevada City. It’s been reconstructed in the museum’s rooftop sculpture gallery. Made from logs from Donner State Park, it’s a hutlike structure with a hand-carved granite pool. Guests can enter and watch clouds passing overhead reflected in the pool.

A three-hour round-trip east from Reno can take visitors to “Winnemucca Whirlwind,” a 300-foot-diameter drawing executed on the surface of Winnemucca Dry Lake, near the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservations. This was once a marshy wetland, which became inaccessible to the tribe when its reservation boundaries were enforced by the government, and which dried up after its water was diverted for other uses in the early part of the last century. The drawing symbolically reclaims the lake for the tribe.

To view the whirlwind, a $7 day pass is required from the Nixon Store on the reservation, a global-positioning devices can be used to locate it, a hidden canister can be found in so you can leave thoughts and a thumbprint, and walking on or near the drawing is prohibited.

It can be viewed from rock outcroppings just off Highway 447, north of Nixon, Nev. Take Interstate 80 east from Reno to 447 and turn north.

At the museum, visitors are invited to add their thumbprints, using soil pigments collected from the Great Basin, to “Touching the Eye of the Storm,” a work inspired by the whirlwind, and one that will grow as the exhibition continues.

The museum has put together several activities in conjunction with “Mushrooms/Clouds,” including an art trip to the Nevada Test Site, talks, night readings and stargazing from the rooftop, photo workshops, a family program of native stories and weavings, and even a “Toddler Art Adventure: Veggies and Clouds.”

“Mushrooms/Clouds” is a work in progress and runs through Oct. 5: “The process is probably the most valuable thing … the way that making a work with people changes you and changes the people probably has more importance than the actual objects left behind,” says Drury.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Mushrooms/Clouds” main exhibition, through Oct. 5 at the Nevada Museum of Art, 160 W. Liberty St., Reno; (775) 329-3333a

ADMISSION: $10 general, $8 students and seniors, $1 ages 6-12

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays. The Café Musee (open 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) on the main floor of the museum is popular with locals and visitors. It is operated by the Wine and Cheese Board, another popular lunch spot across the street from the museum on California Avenue.

A full schedule of events is available at www.nevadaart.org.

Nevada gets more time to file Yucca challenges

Nevada gets more time to file Yucca challenges

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday granted Nevada 30 additional days to file license challenges to the Yucca Mountain repository, short of the extra time the state requested for its preparations.

Attorneys for the state in April asked the nuclear safety commissioners to allow 180 days for participants in license hearings to file “contentions” that challenge aspects of the nuclear waste plan. NRC rules currently allow 30 days.

In a seven-page order, the four-member commission said 180 days was too long to alter longstanding rules.

But they agreed to allow an additional 30 days as a “modest extension of time.” On top of the 30 days already allowed, this means the state and other participants in Yucca licensing would have 60 days to file contentions.

The clock starts ticking after the NRC decides whether it will docket and hold hearings on a Yucca Mountain repository application. If the agency decides to move forward, the 60 day period starts when it files a formal notice of hearing. The agency is expected to announce a docketing decision early next month.

Bob Loux, executive director of Nevada’s nuclear projects agency, said he welcomed whatever extra time the NRC granted.

“We would have wanted a lot more time but we are grateful we got at least some time,” Loux said. “Candidly we were preparing we would get denied in total.”

Nevada attorneys have said they might file between 250 and 500 contentions on various elements of the Yucca program in a bid to kill or further delay the project.

Those numbers of contentions would be a record for a nuclear license application, although attorneys say they expect only a portion will be accepted for discussion.

The Department of Energy on June 3 sent the NRC volumes of studies supporting its application to build the Nevada repository to hold 70,000 metric tons of high level radioactive waste.

Nevada gets more time to file Yucca challenges

Nevada gets more time to file Yucca challenges

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

• Yucca Mountain: Nuclear Waste in Nevada

WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday granted Nevada 30 additional days to file license challenges to the Yucca Mountain repository, short of the extra time the state requested for its preparations.

Attorneys for the state in April asked the nuclear safety commissioners to allow 180 days for participants in license hearings to file “contentions” that challenge aspects of the nuclear waste plan. NRC rules currently allow 30 days.

In a seven-page order, the four-member commission said 180 days was too long to alter longstanding rules.

But they agreed to allow an additional 30 days as a “modest extension of time.” On top of the 30 days already allowed, this means the state and other participants in Yucca licensing would have 60 days to file contentions.

The clock starts ticking after the NRC decides whether it will docket and hold hearings on a Yucca Mountain repository application. If the agency decides to move forward, the 60 day period starts when it files a formal notice of hearing. The agency is expected to announce a docketing decision early next month.

Bob Loux, executive director of Nevada’s nuclear projects agency, said he welcomed whatever extra time the NRC granted.

“We would have wanted a lot more time but we are grateful we got at least some time,” Loux said. “Candidly we were preparing we would get denied in total.”

Nevada attorneys have said they might file between 250 and 500 contentions on various elements of the Yucca program in a bid to kill or further delay the project.

Those numbers of contentions would be a record for a nuclear license application, although attorneys say they expect only a portion will be accepted for discussion.

The Department of Energy on June 3 sent the NRC volumes of studies supporting its application to build the Nevada repository to hold 70,000 metric tons of high level radioactive waste.

By STEVE TETREAULT