Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/10/2014

The Department of Energy has begun efforts to satisfy requirements set forth by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concerning the license review of the Yucca Mountain geological repository, according to a letter Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons sent to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) this week. The NRC issued an Order in November setting forth a pathway to re-start the licensing review, including the need for a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on groundwater issues as well as providing information and support requested by NRC staff from DOE. “Since the NRC’s Nov. 18, 2013 order, DOE has taken steps to prepare to respond to requests from the NRC staff and to prepare the EIS supplement requested by the NRC,” Lyons wrote. “Specifically, the Department has begun reviewing the technical report provided to the NRC on the groundwater issues in 2009. The Department is also in the process of procuring the services of contractors to help produce the EIS supplement requested by the NRC and has begun drafting a notice of intent to prepare the supplement.” He assured the congressmen that DOE would follow the NRC requests using existing Nuclear Waste Fund carryover balances.

Lyons’ letter comes in response to a series of questions sent to DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz in December from Upton and Energy and the Economy Subcommittee Chair John Shimkus (R-Ill.). The purpose of the letter from the congressmen was to inquire about the Department’s intentions in regards to following the court order to reduce the Nuclear Waste Fund fee to zero along with other outstanding issues dealing with the Yucca Mountain licensing. According to a House Energy and Commerce spokesman, the two congressmen were not impressed with the response. “They were not satisfied with DOE’s response and the committee will continue to conduct oversight of the issue to ensure the agency is following the court’s instruction,” the spokesman said.

In his letter, Lyons informed the congressmen that DOE had sent a letter to Congress asking for the fee to be reduced as well as filing a motion for a re-hearing en banc in the NWF fee case. Lyons also stressed that it was the belief of the Department that “any workable solution for the final disposition of used fuel and nuclear waste must be based not only on sound science but also on achieving public acceptance at the local, state, and tribal level.”