Federal government could oust Yucca Mountain contractor
By TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS
The U.S. Dept of Energy is returning to the drawing board on how to
improve management of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste
repository, located 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. And that upgrade
could entail changing contractors.
The joint venture of Bechtel SAIC, won the five-year, $3.1 billion
site-management contract on Feb. 12, 2001 and that agreement expires
in March. Industry sources say the DOE is planning to rebid the
contract, adding that competing teams are now beginning to develop.
A Bechtel spokesman says the DOE has not decided whether to renew, but
claims that it has met all of its performance requirements. The
joint-venture, however, has yet to receive 100 percent of its fee,
which was reduced somewhat after a recent evaluation.
Most attention has focused on safety issues at the Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste-storage project. The contract for Bechtel promises
to be another opportunity to revisit those issues.
"But that's typical," the spokesman said. There have been up to 2,000
Bechtel SAIC employees and subcontractors working at the Yucca site.
DOE, meanwhile, has instructed Bechtel SAIC to devise a plan to
operate the repository as a non-containment facility. It's a move that
would eliminate billions of dollars in construction for handling spent
fuel, says Paul Golan, acting director of DOE's office of civilian
radioactive waste management. A "simpler" design will make the project
"more reliable," he adds.
The repository's two-tiered standard, as outlined by the Environmental
Protection Agency, has come under fire by project critics and state
officials who claim the proposed rules do not satisfy a court order
last July to protect the health and safety of future Nevadans.
"We have said all along the project is not safe and the science is
bad, but never thought DOE would actually admit it," said U.S.
Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign in an Oct. 25 joint-statement.
"[It's a] misguided and fraud-riddled project."
Bechtel SAIC and DOE personnel are both responsible for repository
problems, Golan says. That added uncertainty to securing a federal
license to operate the facility. "The bottom line is that this new
plan gives us simplification in design, licensing and construction,"
he added.
The Yucca Mountain repository plays a key role in the Bush
Administration's National Energy Policy, which is seeking to add
50,000 megawatts of new nuclear generation capacity by 2020. A
permanent storage facility solves a long-standing waste problem by
consolidating 42,000 metric tons of radioactive plutonium currently
stored at 131 places in 39 states.
The previous design called for large handling facilities where fuel
would be prepared for storage in the repository. Under the new plan,
however, most spent fuel would be sent to the repository in
standardized canisters that would not require repetitive handling of
fuel.
Failure in project management, contract administration and oversight
contributed to project problems, Golan admits. He vows to fix such
shortcomings by increasing control of government staffers and
contractors, while assuming more authority at DOE headquarters for
oversight.