The Department of Energy on Monday said the national nuclear waste repository planned at Yucca Mountain in Nevada remains unworkable, despite the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s finding last week that the facility would have a “small” impact on local groundwater.
Department spokesman Bill Wicker said by email that the NRC’s final supplement to DOE’s Yucca Mountain environmental impact statement (EIS), issued Thursday, is consistent with the department’s technical report at the site. Despite the confirmation of findings, Wicker said that “in DOE’s view, Yucca Mountain remains an unworkable solution to our nation’s nuclear waste problem.” DOE has maintained that argument on the basis that it does not hold the proper land or water rights to proceed, and has instead embarked on a “consent-based” process to find new waste storage sites.
The NRC’s 301-page supplement analyzed potential contaminant releases from the repository that could be transported through groundwater in the Death Valley region. Among the findings is that the peak estimated annual individual radiological dose over a 1 million-year period at any of the evaluated locations would be 1.3 millirems, which compares to normal background radiation exposure of 300 millirems per year.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who along with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), has been prodding DOE to resume work on Yucca Mountain, in a statement Monday encouraged advancement of the NRC’s suspended licensing process for the Nevada facility.
“Independent scientific staff at NRC have reaffirmed the Yucca Mountain repository can safely store nuclear waste for one million years,” Shimkus’ office stated via email. “With the final EIS supplement completed, there is no excuse to further delay work on the Yucca Mountain repository. I thank the NRC staff for their hard work and I look forward to the next steps in the licensing process.”
