House panel wants independent probe of Yucca Mountain allegations
Washington (Platts)--5Apr2005
A House government reform panel will call for the creation of an independent special commission to investigate allegations that a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologist falsified Yucca Mountain documents between 1998 and 2000. Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.), who chairs the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce & Agency Organization, said at a subcommittee hearing today which he envisioned a commission would be modeled after the Kemney Commission that investigated the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island-2. Porter repeated the state's assertion that the DOE repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nev. should be halted until the outside probe is complete and said he would recommend to House appropriators that the program's fiscal 2006 funding reflect a halt in all work. The allegations, which surfaced in a review of USGS e-mails, involve quality assurance documentation on USGS water infiltration and climate studies at the site. USGS scientists involved in the allegations will testify at a subcommittee hearing April 13.
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