Yucca Mountain Workers Laid Off; More Cuts Ahead

Yucca Mountain Workers Laid Off; More Cuts Ahead

Mar 30 - Las Vegas Review - Journal

Three dozen Yucca Mountain workers lost their jobs last week, and a Department of Energy official warned Wednesday that several hundred others may face layoffs in the months ahead.

The disclosure by Ward Sproat, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, signaled that budget problems continue to face the nuclear waste program as department officials seek to assure Congress that the project is on a new track following setbacks and long delays.

Sproat delivered the program's latest budget request to a House appropriations energy and water subcommittee. Lawmakers will soon begin writing an Energy Department spending bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Sproat told lawmakers it was "absolutely vital" for Congress to allocate $494.5 million to carry out the latest schedule that calls for filing a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June 2008 and a repository opening later in the next decade.

"We need all of it," Sproat said.

But even with full funding, it will be difficult to avoid job cuts later this year, Sproat said.

"If we get the full $494.5 million, that is still $50 million less than we are spending this year; so you are talking several hundred people" facing layoffs, he said after the meeting.

The project this year is spending $444.5 million plus is exhausting another $100 million in carryover funds from last year, he said.

Sproat told lawmakers his focus is meeting deadlines for the license application, and other parts of the project may be set aside.

"There will be substantial reductions, but we will get the license application completed on time," he said.

The Yucca Mountain program has been one of the larger employers of technical and white collar workers in the Las Vegas Valley, with a current workforce of 2,550 people.

The latest job losses hit employees at Bechtel-SAIC Corp., the program's chief operations contractor.

Spokesman Jason Bohne confirmed about 60 layoff warnings were issued several weeks ago to administrative and clerical workers in accounting, public relations and other departments, and to technical writers who are not working on the license application.

Ultimately, 35 people were laid off, and their final day was last Thursday.

"We worked to keep as many people on board as we could," Bohne said.

Two years ago, Bechtel laid off about 150 people.

Last summer, as many as 500 workers were issued job warnings, although many ended up transferring to the payroll of Sandia National Laboratories, which was assigned a larger role at Yucca Mountain.

Members of the House panel on Wednesday gave no clue about their intentions, although traditionally they have supported full funding for Yucca Mountain.

The project runs into tougher sledding in the Senate, where Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., its most powerful critic, has exercised control over its budget.

If anything, House lawmakers expressed impatience with the slow pace of Yucca Mountain and urged Sproat to speed it up if possible.

"I don't understand why it is taking so long," said Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif. "It is disturbing. I recall Hoover Dam was built working seven days a week around the clock in around three years. We are so tied down by our bureaucratic systems."