DOE Responds to Yucca Mountain Decision

DOE Responds to Yucca Mountain Decision

Oct 19 - Professional Safety

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

U.S. Court of Appeals recently reached a decision regarding the Yucca Mountain, NV, site for storing radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear power plants. The court dismissed all but one claim by the state of Nevada in its suit against a federal government decision to build the radioactive waste repository. The court ruled that in setting a 10,000-year compliance period for protecting against radiation releases, EPA violated the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which requires that EPA determine standards based on and consistent with National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) recommendations. NAS advised that the compliance period should extend through the time of the peak risk for radiation doses from the repository, which will likely occur in 300,000 years or more.

In a statement issued by Dept. of Energy (DOE) in response to the decision, DOE secretary Spencer Abraham stated that he was pleased with the decision. "The court dismissed all challenges to the site selection of Yucca Mountain. [It] rejected the state of Nevada's challenge to the constitutionality of the resolution approving Yucca Mountain.... While the court did not question the scientific validity of the EPA's standards, it did vacate ... the 10,000-year compliance period. Therefore, DOE will be working with EPA and Congress to determine appropriate steps to address this issue."