Jeremy Dillon and Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
2/28/2014
It appears the specter of Yucca Mountain has entered the negotiations on a batch of uranium-233 the Department of Energy hopes to dispose of at the Nevada National Security Site as DOE undertakes a Congressionally-mandated examination of disposal alternatives, WC Monitor has learned. DOE received indications before, during, and after the most recent working group meeting in January from the Nevada delegation that should DOE take any actions to move the Yucca Mountain license review forward in any way, most notably through the completion of a supplemental Environmental Impact Study requested by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the state would not support disposal of uranium stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Nevada. Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons told House lawmakers in January that DOE would prepare the supplemental EIS, but it remains to be seen if that process will, in fact, move forward. DOE did not return calls for comment this week on the issue.
The recent working group discussions between Nevada officials and Department officials center on 403 canisters of Consolidated Edison Uranium Solidification Project (CEUSP) material in DOE’s inventory of uranium-233 being stored at ORNL’s Building 3019. While DOE had slated to dispose of CEUSP at NNSS, that move was met with opposition last year by Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), leading to the formation of the working group. After an initial meeting in November, the Department had hoped to resolve the issue by January, when the shipping containers were due for recertification. However, as discussions went on, the Department unloaded the shipping casks in early January to perform maintenance and recertification inspections. That move took the time pressure off the talks with DOE, opening up the possibility of a longer discussion period, and subsequent meetings have taken place since then.
Disposal of the CEUSP material has now been linked to an even more controversial Nevada project, Yucca Mountain. While DOE shut down work on the repository in 2010, challenges from numerous parties led to a court order last year mandating a restart of licensing proceeding for the project—a move vehemently opposed by Nevada. The NRC issued an Order in November setting forth a pathway to re-start the Yucca Mountain licensing review, including the request for a supplemental EIS from DOE on groundwater issues to satisfy requirements set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act. Nevada had been the only party to appeal the court’s decision to issue a writ of mandamus in the licensing review case.
Alternatives for CEUSP Material Emerge
As the Yucca controversy continues, DOE is moving ahead with a study of alternatives for disposal of the uranium-233 at ORNL. In the FY 2014 omnibus appropriations bill passed in January, Congress mandated a lifecycle cost estimate of the program supporting removal of all uranium-233 by 2019 and an analysis of the cost and schedule implications if the material is not disposed of at NNSS. The report was due within 90 days, a deadline that would come in mid-April. “The report required by Congress is currently being developed,” a DOE official said in a written response.
The Department will likely look at several options for the CEUSP material other than disposal in Nevada. One would involve construction of a storage building at the Y-12 National Security Complex where the CEUSP material could be kept indefinitely until a disposal pathway is found. Another would involve downblending or processing the material for disposal. Oak Ridge is already planning to process about half of its uranium-233 inventory, but a previous proposal to process all of the material was scrapped due to the high cost involved in constructing a new facility for the endeavor. But one other option is not being considered by DOE—disposal of the material at the Waste Control Specialists site in Texas. While the material likely could be disposed of from a technical perspective at the WCS site, WCS does not have the security on site to guard the CEUSP material, and it is unclear how much security would add to the cost.
DOE Had Planned to Complete Yucca Study
On the Yucca Mountain side, DOE had initially planned to move forward with the NRC’s request for the study. Lyons told House lawmakers in January that the Department had taken steps to prepare the EIS. “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 to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) in January. “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.”
Nevada to Contest EIS Findings
But Nevada has made it disapproval for the supplemental EIS known. “The governor is and continues to be opposed to Yucca Mountain,” Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) spokesman Mac Bybee said this week. The state plans to contest any findings if the report does get completed, Executive Director of the State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects Bob Halstead told WC Monitor this week. “To me, frankly, the updating of EIS is going to be one of the major contested issues here,” he said. “Whether it is done by DOE or NRC, we are preparing for a big-time response. It won’t be narrow. We will argue that the scope of groundwater and recharge impacts has to be reconsidered in terms of all kinds of changes and assumptions in the waste package and the overall repository design. It won’t just be a groundwater discussion. It will be a total system performance assessment discussion,” he said. Neither Sandoval’s office nor Halstead confirmed a direct link between the Yucca Mountain EIS and discussions on the CEUSP material.
