YUCCA MTN

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Panel adds $10 million to request

Money would be for interim storage of nuclear waste

Yucca won't take waste from Utah

Rules prohibit it: The Nevada site won't take nuclear fuel in canisters like those for the proposed PFS site

Documents on Yucca may have been falsified

The Government Announces Yucca Mountain documents may have been falsified

Yucca Mountain Delayed AGAIN

Federal Government Pushes Back Opening of Yucca Mountain

California wants Yucca refund

Frustration boils over regarding glacial progress of nuclear waste management project

Lawmakers cut funding for Yucca Mountain to $450 million in 2006

Lawmakers agreed Monday to cut 2006 spending for Yucca Mountain well below past-year levels and President Bush's budget request, reflecting the faltering prospects for locating the nation's nuclear waste dump in the Nevada desert.

Energy officials halt some work at Yucca Mountain

The Department of Energy has suspended work on key segments of Yucca Mountain after whistle-blowers reported more problems with nuclear waste repository design and engineering, officials confirmed.

REID, ENSIGN INTRODUCE NUCLEAR WASTE ON-SITE STORAGE LEGISLATION

Bill will eliminate need for central nuclear waste repository like proposed Yucca Mountain project

Estimated cost of Yucca Mountain railroad raised to $2 billion

The Energy Department now says it could cost two (B) Billion dollars to build a railroad line to ship radioactive waste across Nevada to the proposed national nuclear waste dump.

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: 'Monkey wrench'

Report: DOE hasn't fully studied how to handle damaged fuel assemblies

Yucca project continues to lose support

Even one-time advocates now critics of proposed nuke waste dump

Yucca Mountain construction won't start for 5 years, Bodman says

It will be at least five years before construction can begin at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said this week, as lawmakers grilled him about delays possibly affecting the creation of new power plants.

Spees: Yucca project on the skids

Nye County's Washington, D.C., lobbyist in charge of steering federal benefits to the host county for the Yucca Mountain project told Nye County Commissioners, staff and consultants Monday that adequate congressional funding for the proposed nuclear waste repository was dead on arrival for 2006 with little hope for improved prospects as the year wears on.

Yucca in need of repair after nine years

Critics question facility's viability

Nevada files new federal lawsuit in Yucca Mountain fight

Nevada filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing the federal Energy Department of withholding documents that state officials say will show the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository can't be built safely.

GAO: Quality assurance problems still hamper nuclear waste dump

Quality assurance problems still hinder progress at the nation's proposed nuclear waste dump a year after the discovery of alleged paperwork fraud by project scientists, congressional investigators said Thursday.

Temporary Nuclear Storage May Be Needed

The Bush administration says it is willing to store temporarily nuclear power plant waste somewhere other than the delayed Yucca Mountain project in Nevada but needs congressional approval to do so.

Nevada Calls for DOE to Withdraw Notice for New Railroad to Yucca Mountain, Allow More Time for Review

In a letter sent Friday to the U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada officials called for DOE to withdraw and re-issue notices for public meetings and comment on its latest plans to evaluate a new rail route for carrying nuclear waste through some of the most populated and well-traveled parts of northern and western Nevada.

Mired in Yucca Muck - Nuclear power is trendy again, but what about the waste?

 

Showdown on nuke waste storage

With power in the Senate shifting to the Democrats, opponents of a Nevada repository push for keeping the material at nuclear reactor sites.

COMMENTARY: Nuclear Waste: A Mountain of Questions

Clean, renewable energy. Reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Lowering greenhouse gas emissions and curbing global warming. These are the selling points, say nuclear advocates, for a “nuclear renaissance” in this country. The Bush Administration, federal lawmakers, industry lobbyists and numerous utility companies want the country to consider the nuclear option as a solution for our future energy needs. In addition to the 103 nuclear power plants that currently supply the nation with 20 percent of its electricity, as many as 30 new nuclear power plants are now being considered by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Tribe derails Yucca plans

A federal proposal to ship up to 4,500 casks of nuclear waste by train through Reno and Sparks to Yucca Mountain on the so-called Mina Route has been dealt a severe blow by the Walker River Paiute Tribe, who withdrew permission for a new railroad line to cross its reservation about 50 miles southeast of Reno.

National survey by MIT shows most Americans oppose a nuclear waste dump planned for Yucca Mountain

A nationwide survey conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that the vast majority of Americans, like Nevadans, oppose the federal government’s plans to store the nation’s high-level nuclear waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. The MIT survey, released this summer, found that “only 19 percent thought that Yucca Mountain should be used without further delays” to store the nation’s nuclear waste and “another 25 percent would agree to its use only if the state of Nevada assents.”

The mountain that will spit poison

"Before you sneer, think about that radioactive waste, sleeping safely in its giant tube beneath Snake Mountain, and think of that volcano across the valley, and the nuclear test site not so far away, and the unusual subterranean river system below this part of the desert. What we put in the mountain may not stay in the mountain."

Yucca Improves Quality Assurance, But Questions Raised on License

The U.S. Department of Energy has improved its quality-assurance program at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, but it's unclear whether DoE's license application to build the spent nuclear fuel repository will be of high quality, says Congress's research arm.

Federal judge says drilling must stop at nuke dump site in Nevada

A federal judge has ruled that Nevada can shut off water needed for bore hole drilling at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. In a strongly worded order focusing on federal "credibility and good faith," U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Las Vegas said the Department of Energy could not ignore state limitations and continue using water for drilling test holes near the repository site.

Earthquake danger detected at planned nuclear waste site

New rock samples show preliminary evidence of an earthquake fault beneath where Yucca Mountain project planners want to handle highly radioactive waste before burial at the planned repository.

MORE SYMBOL THAN SUBSTANCE? - Yucca hearing offers Clinton a venue

A Senate committee Wednesday announced an upcoming hearing on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project, allowing Sen. Hillary Clinton to claim credit for delivering on a presidential campaign promise made to Nevadans over the summer.

Clinton, Obama Urge Senate to Shut Door on Nuclear Waste Site

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday declared themselves flatly opposed to building a nuclear waste repository in Nevada, a clear indication that the 2008 presidential election could end a 25-year effort to build the controversial dump.

Yucca Mt. 10/31/07 Hearing Transcripts and Archive Webcast available

If you want to read every word or see what happened, here is the link to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee posting of the 10/31/2007 hearing:

Prairie Island Indians seek removal of nuclear waste

A representative from the Prairie Island Indian Community was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday urging legislators to make Nevada's Yucca Mountain a permanent nuclear waste repository.

IEER Comments on Yucca Mtn Hearing - October 31, 2007

On October 31, 2007, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the Yucca Mountain proposed nuclear waste repository. IEER submitted comments at the request of the staff of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; they are available online

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Congress cuts 22 percent from project - Foes celebrate latest whacking

Congress is taking another deep bite out of Yucca Mountain spending in a final budget bill it plans to pass this week, raising the possibility of even more delays in the government's bid for a nuclear waste site in Nevada.

U.S. Nuclear Waste Repository Foes Speak Out

A dozen national organizations, joined by 68 state and local grassroots groups from across the country, filed comments with the U.S. Department of Energy Thursday in opposition to the high-level radioactive waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The State of California’s Comments on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Draft

On behalf of the State of California, I am writing to provide comments on the following U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) documents: • Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-0250F-S1D) • Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada – Nevada Rail Transportation Corridor (DOE/EIS-0250F-S2D) • Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Rail Alignment for the Construction and Operation of a Railroad in Nevada to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-0369D)

STATE OF CALIFORNIA’S COMMENTS ON THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S DRAFT REPOSITORY SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND DRAFT NEVADA RAIL CORRIDOR/ALIGNMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS

The State of California (State) submits these comments in response to the following U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) documents: • Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-0250F-S1D)(DSEIS), • Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada—Nevada Rail Transportation Corridor ( DOE/EIS-0250F-S2DE ) and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Rail Alignment for the Construction and Operation of a Railroad in Nevada to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-0369D) (RA EIS). Our comments address these three documents together, since the proposed actions described in these documents are inextricably interrelated and have common issues.

COMMENTS ON US DEPARTMENTS OF ENERGY'S NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT DOCUMENTS FOR THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY

The Attorney General of California believes that transportating radioactive waste through California, both from commercial reactors within the state and numerous sources withou, including vestiges of the nuclear weapons program, has not been adequately analyzed by the Department of Energy ("DOE"). DOE proposes to send hundreds of trains and trucks full of radioactive waste from other states through populated areas of California without first analyzing the risks posed by various routes through the state. Proceeding with the project in the manner described in the National Environmental Policy Act documents DOE recetly released for comment could pose a threat to the people, natural resources, and environment of California.

Reid Says Senate Bill to Revive Yucca Project Going Nowhere

Senate leader Harry Reid said a Senate bill to revive plans for opening a national radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain has no chance of passage.

Nuclear waste costs U.S. gov't millions

U.S. taxpayers reportedly have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars to get rid of nuclear waste from more than 100 reactors that has yet to be disposed. The federal government has already paid the utilities $342 million, a figure expected to balloon to $11 billion in the coming years, The New York Times reported Sunday.

As Nuclear Waste Languishes, Expense to U.S. Rises

Forgotten but not gone, the waste from more than 100 nuclear reactors that the federal government was supposed to start accepting for burial 10 years ago is still at the reactor sites, at least 20 years behind schedule. But it is making itself felt in the federal budget. With court orders and settlements, the federal government has already paid the utilities $342 million, but is virtually certain to pay a total of at least $7 billion in the next few years and probably over $11 billion, government officials said. The industry said the total could reach $35 billion.

Yucca Mountain safety plan is 'doomed,' nuclear company says

In an earthquake, casks of radioactive waste could bounce and roll in a 'chaotic melee,' Holtec International says of the Energy Department proposal.

Sign Petition to NRC to Block Yucca Mountain Dump

Background: In early June, the U.S. Dept. of Energy filed a license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, seeking permission to construct and operate the still pending high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain , Nevada . The NRC will now review and then docket this application, allowing only a small window for any remaining public intervention. Although the DOE application is more than 8,000 pages long with 30 million pages of supporting documents, the NRC contends it will docket the application in three months. Once docketed, a three- to four-year licensing proceeding would commence, ending around 2012, most likely with NRC approval. The culmination of this review comprises the biggest NRC licensing proceeding in history. Our View: NRC is rushing its docketing review in order to launch the Yucca licensing proceeding before George W. Bush and his pro-Yucca Mountain administration exit the White House. But despite its huge size and cost – more than $11 billion to date that will likely balloon to at least $70 billion if the dump is built and operated – the DOE application and document collection is missing the most important pieces. These include: a final repository design; final national transport plan; final design for the "Transport, Aging, and Disposal" canister in which the waste would be “permanently” sealed; final EPA regulations on radiation releases; and meaningful treatment of Western Shoshone Indian land rights at Yucca under the "peace and friendship" Treaty of Ruby Valley signed by the U.S. government in 1863. Consequently, the NRC should not docket the application and should halt the Yucca licensing proceeding. What You Can Do: Follow the link where you will find U.S. Senator Harry Reid's "Petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Reject the License Application for a Nuclear Waste Dump at Yucca Mountain ." Please sign it, and circulate it to others for signatures.

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING SEPT. 23 IN NYE COUNTY, NEV., TO DISCUSS REVIEW PROCESS FOR YUCCA MOUNTAIN APPLICATION (Longstreet Inn, Highway 373 in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, from 09/23/2008 17:00 to 09/23/2008 19:00)