Ed
Mueller
Director of the
Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program
PO Box 490
274 E. Crook Avenue
Goldfield, NV 89103
775-485-3419 Office
775-485-3429 Fax
See US Government Accountability Reports (GAO) regarding Yucca Mountain.
Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program On-Line
Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program goals are to provide oversight of the proposed Yucca Mountain High Level Waste Repository 90 miles north of Las Vegas. This website contains information about the Yucca Mountain site, the studies conducted by the Department of Energy, and the current licensing process which started in 2008.
We've also included maps developed for ongoing studies conducted by the ROP offices to create a baseline of existing conditions of Esmeralda County to prepare for any future transportation of high-level waste through the county to the proposed Yucca Mountain site.
We have also included photographs, links to regulatory authorities, the State of Nevada's Yucca Mountain Oversight website, and affected local governments in Nevada and California.
We update our links often to information related to Yucca Mountain in an effort to have a site that provides a broad and informative location where the public can visit and find current information regarding the future of Yucca Mountain.
Yucca Mountain:
Year 2011
August 2011:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published in the NUREG series the first of three technical evaluation reports (TERs) detailing the agency staff's review of the Department of Energy's license application for a high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Publication of the TER provides the staff's technical review of the postclosure information in the Yucca Mountain application. This TER does not include findings as to whether NRC's regulatory requirements have been satisfied.
"Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository License Application; Postclosure Volume: Repository Safety After Permanent Closure," is part of the agency's orderly closeout of the Yucca Mountain license review process and is intended as a public record of the staff's scientific and technical work in preparing for and reviewing the application. It was developed using the draft Volume 3 of the staff's Safety Evaluation Report on the application.
The TER was prepared as part of the agency's knowledge management activities during the closeout of the Yucca Mountain licensing review. The closeout, including publication of two additional TERs as NUREGs, is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2011. (http://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal/yucca-lic-app.html ).
July 2011:
Blue Ribbon Commission's draft report:
The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future today submitted its draft report to the Secretary of Energy, as required by the Commission charter. The Commission will seek public comment on the draft through October 31, 2011, and will consider those comments in preparing its final report, which is due to the Secretary in January 2012. Comments may be submitted through the Commission web site at www.brc.gov; at one of several public meetings to be held during the comment period (dates and times to be announced soon); via email to brc@nuclear.energy.gov, or in writing to me at:
Mr. Timothy A. Frazier
Designated Federal Officer
Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
The draft report is available at http://brc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/brc_draft_report_29jul2011.pdf.
Safeguarding Nuclear Waste After Fukushima, Waste Storage Scrutinized in U.S.
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Argued March 22, 2011 Decided July 1, 2011: No. 10-1050 IN RE: AIKEN COUNTY, PETITIONER On Petitions for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, Petitions for Extraordinary Relief, and Petitions for Review: Summary - A three-judge panel said in a unanimous decision the lawsuit by the states of Washington and South Carolina and others challenging the shutdown of the Yucca project was premature until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission takes final actions.
May 12: GAO report - COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR WASTE-Effects of a Termination of the Yucca Mountain Repository Program and Lessons Learned. The US General Accounting Office.
What GAO Recommends
GAO suggests that Congress consider whether a more predictable funding mechanism would enhance future efforts and whether an independent organization would be more effective. GAO also recommends that DOE assess remaining risks of the shutdown; create a plan to resume licensing if necessary; and report on federal property and its disposition. NRC concurred with the facts in a draft of this report, but DOE strongly disagreed with the draft and the recommendations, questioning the veracity of GAO's information. GAO continues to believe its findings and recommendations are sound.
April 2011
DOE NUCLEAR WASTE
Better Information Needed on Waste Storage at DOE Sites as a Result of Yucca
Mountain Shutdown
Year 2010
On March 5th, 2010 Department of Energy (DoE) filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to withdraw the application to build and operate Yucca Mountain.
About one year ago President Barack Obama cut all funding for the DOE's work towards realizing Yucca Mountain.
On January 29, 2010 Secretary Steven Chu unveiled plans for a Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC). Its charter direction is to conduct a “comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including all alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense used nuclear fuel [and] high-level waste.” However, Yucca Mountain is not to be part of the consideration for a future repository site or serve as a baseline for this review. Watch Blue Ribbon meeting video webcasts provided at this link
The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste plan has been kept alive when on June 29th a panel of judges ruled the Obama administration does not have the authority to withdraw the project without permission from Congress. Federal law requires the Department of Energy to apply for a waste repository license and for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to evaluate the application and rule on its merits unless lawmakers decide otherwise, according to a three-judge board that hears commission licensing matters.
"We conclude that Congress directed both that DOE file the application, and that the NRC consider the application and issue a final merits-based decision," the judges said. "Unless Congress directs otherwise, DOE may not single-handedly derail the legislated decision-making process by withdrawing the application." (read the full story -June 30: Ruling keeps Yucca Mountain alive)
In August 2010 the NRC staff completed its safety evaluation of repository performance (Volume 1: General Information)for many tens of thousands of years and now the licensing board (acting for the commission) could begin hearing and adjudicating scores of critical contentions by the state of Nevada and other opposing parties. If the case for licensing is convincing, the granting of a construction license could come in 2012. But the licensing board is a part of the NRC, and if the commission should order the proceeding terminated it would be in keeping with Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s motion to withdraw the license application and therefore would shut down the proceeding.
Now pending before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia are lawsuits brought by Washington, South Carolina, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and several other plaintiffs to stop the licensing withdrawal. Most tellingly, the plaintiffs allege violations of the NWPA of 1982, with its detailed prescriptions for repository site selection, approval, and construction licensing.
The Court of Appeals initially called for arguments in the pending litigation to begin this September but has now decided to first await an outcome at the NRC.
Currently awaiting permanent geologic disposal are roughly 64,000 metric tons of spent reactor fuel in temporary storage at 120 operating and shut-down commercial nuclear power reactors in 36 states. In addition, there are the thousands of containers of highly radioactive waste arising from the cleanup of nuclear weapons production sites in Washington, South Carolina, and Idaho.
Nevada State Legislature Committed on High Level Waste Video webcasts link
Supporting Esmeralda County, the public and County Commissioners on Yucca Mountain Project issues and activities. |
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Ed Mueller and Caroline Fitzpatrick are available at the ROP office to answer questions and provide information. The ROP office is also an official reading room and maintains a library of documents related to the proposed Yucca Mountain Repository, as well as brochures and videos for public information. |
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Caroline Fitzpatrick
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Ed Mueller
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| Goldfield Science Center The Science Center is located next to the Nuclear Oversight Programs Office at 274 E. Crook Avenue in Goldfield, Nevada. Visiting the center will give you the opportunity to see diagrams and interactive diorama's which detail the science at Yucca Mountain. There is also plenty of free brochures and information you can take home. |  |
history:
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA), designated the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as the only site to be considered for a geologic repository for disposal of spent fuel and high-level nuclear waste. The NWPA also provided for the Affected Units of Local Government (AULG) within the vicinity of Yucca Mountain to oversee and participate in the Yucca Mountain Project. By affording AULG participation rights, Congress sought to increase public confidence in the scientific integrity of the repository program, provide citizens the means to interact with the federal government, and demonstrate a commitment to external oversight.
Esmeralda County is one of ten counties designated as an affected unit
of local government (AULG).
Esmeralda County has been overseeing the site characterization of Yucca Mountain since 1988 even though we were not granted "affected" status by the U.S. Department of Energy until 1991 after successful joint petition with Inyo County, California, to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Esmeralda County's proximity to the proposed repository in neighboring Nye County and its location on a potential highway route that may be used for transportation of high-level radioactive waste and the proposed Caliente rail route for shipping the waste to Yucca Mountain make our county vitally interested in the environmental, health and safety impacts of the project and in the socioeconomic effects arising from siting, construction and operation of the proposed repository. More related information
