Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of quarterly news summaries and analyses about President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll check in with one long, big-picture update every 25 days, with a regular flow of updates in between to keep you up to date on news affecting Department of Energy radioactive waste management during the new administration’s crucial first days.
The Trump administration has made it more clear than ever in recent days that it is prepared to scrap its predecessor’s strategy for dealing with the nation’s nuclear waste, instead returning focus to the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada.
Rick Perry quietly made his way to Yucca Mountain this week in his first site visit as energy secretary – announcing the trip only after it was finished. While his prepared statement did not confirm a federal about-face on the project, it made no mention of any other options.
The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act required the Department of Energy to locate and build a final resting place for what is today a national stockpile of about 75,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and a separate holding of high-level radioactive waste (now roughly 90 million gallons of liquids, sludges, and solids primarily from defense nuclear operations). Congress in 1987 amended the law to designate Yucca Mountain as the repository, and has since spent about $15 billion on development of the facility.
However, the Obama administration in 2009 halted the project and ultimately established a plan to build separate repositories for defense and commercial waste by the late 2040s. In the meantime, interim storage sites would be opened in the early 2020s to consolidate storage of spent fuel now held on-site at U.S. nuclear plants. This strategy has not sat well with many members of Congress, who have been pleased with the new administration’s moves back toward Yucca.
As Perry noted, the White House has proposed $120 million in fiscal 2018 funding for interim storage of nuclear waste and resuming the licensing process for Yucca Mountain with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But the department does not necessarily need to wait until Oct. 1 to begin the licensing process. DOE for fiscal 2017 has about $25 million in carryover funding that could be transferred to the NRC, which would allow the regulator to establish the hearing board that will oversee proceedings for some 300 legal and technical contentions that Nevada is preparing. Nevada’s Agency for Nuclear Projects estimates DOE will need $1.7 billion in total funding and the NRC $330 million to complete the licensing process that remains.
In the wake of Perry’s visit, Nevada officials have stepped up their rhetorical game against Yucca Mountain – with Sen. Dean Heller (R) taking to the Senate floor Wednesday to lash the project and Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) pledging lawsuits and other measures to prevent its realization. Heller on Wednesday asked whether it was financially prudent to invest another $2 billion into a project that hasn’t yielded results in more than 30 years, calling pursuit of Yucca Mountain “insanity.”
“Nevada’s position hasn’t changed, and it isn’t going to change on this issue,” he said, adding later: “Make no mistake about it – I will continue to lead the Nevada congressional delegation’s effort to stymie any misguided effort to spend one more federal dollar on the Yucca Mountain repository.”
In defending the application, DOE will likely turn to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the legal team that handled Yucca Mountain proceedings in the late 2000s. The department has said that Morgan Lewis is the only firm with the nuclear waste expertise required to defend the application.
It’s also anticipated that the department will re-establish its Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), the entity charged with carrying out disposal of domestic spent nuclear fuel as laid out in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. As it moved away from Yucca Mountain, the Obama administration defunded the office and shifted its remaining responsibilities into DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
Perry could hypothetically re-establish OCRWM in a matter of hours, which would involve the appointment of an acting office director, to be filled by a career employee at DOE. Perry would also suggest names to fill the director position. Unlike the acting director, the director would require Senate confirmation, which could take about nine months. That role would be filled by a Trump political appointee.
How much say Perry would have in the appointment is an open question, as the White House has pushed back hard against some political appointee recommendations from other Cabinet secretaries. DOE did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Lake Barrett, DOE’s acting director for OCRWM during various stints in the 1990s and early 2000s, said in an interview this week that the department will only need dozens of experts in place to defend the license application, not the hundreds of people it required when preparing the document. He also shared the opinion that DOE will be successful if it defends the application.
“I believe that the merits of the case will show that Yucca Mountain meets the regulatory requirements and the Nevada contentions will be dismissed,” Barrett said.
