NRC to press ahead with Yucca review

Jul 21 - Associated Press

> The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will press ahead with its
> review of a license for a nuclear waste dump in Nevada, even as the
> Obama administration has made clear it is abandoning the project, the
> commission's chairman said Tuesday.
>
> Even so, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko acknowledged in an interview
> with The Associated Press that the agency's ability to work on the
> license application for the Yucca Mountain project could be
> jeopardized by future budget cuts.
>
> "Right now we have funding for one year at a time. ... Going
> forward, we'll see what kind of work we'll be able to do with the
> budget that we get," said Jaczko during a 40-minute interview at NRC
> headquarters in Rockville, Md., just outside Washington.
>
> Ironically, Jaczko, who was named the commission's chairman in
> May after four years at the NRC, previously was the science adviser to
> Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. For years Reid has vowed
> to kill the proposed Yucca waste dump, which has been the focus of
> intense controversy in his state for two decades.
>
> While on Reid's staff, Jaczko helped the senator frame arguments
> against the Yucca dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. And even now,
> Reid has said he wants to halt funding for even the license review.
>
> Jaczko said because of the ongoing NRC review he could not
> discuss in detail the Yucca license application submitted last year by
> the Bush administration.
>
> But Jaczko said he's convinced the radioactive waste - actually
> used reactor fuel - that would go to Yucca Mountain can be maintained
> safely and securely for decades at commercial power plants in 31
> states. The waste could either be submerged in spent-fuel pools or in
> steel and concrete casks for longer onsite storage.
>
> "When we look at the risks at any nuclear plant, spent fuel isn't
> the most significant risk that we have," said Jaczko. He cited an NRC
> study that concluded the safety risks posed by a reactor, although
> extremely low, is a million times greater than the risks posed by
> keeping the reactor waste at a power plant.
>
> On other subjects, Jaczko said he wants to reinforce the need to
> maintain a "safety culture" at the agency and the nuclear industry. He
> acknowledged some concern about the work load facing the NRC as it
> considered applications for new reactors, relicensing of existing
> nuclear power plants and assured the public that plants are being
> operated safely.
>
> "We've got a lot of things on our plate, making sure we do a good
> solid safety review whether its with new reactors, license renewals,
> (or)
> nuclear material," he said.
>
> Jaczko said he couldn't say when the NRC will approve its first
> license for a new reactor, only that it won't be this year. The
> commission has 18 applications for more than two dozen reactors
> pending at various stages.
>
> He rejected criticism that the licensing process continues to
> hinder construction of new nuclear power plants as some Republican
> lawmakers in Congress have charged.
>
> "This is not a simple machine we're building," Jaczko said,
> referring to approval for a new reactor. "It's not Lincoln Logs that
> we're dealing with here. We're dealing with a complicated machine."
>
> The five-member commission is down to three members including the
> chairman. Obama has yet to nominated anyone to fill the two vacancies,
> but Jaczko said that doesn't bother him for the time being.
>
> Meanwhile, he's settling into the chairman's office at the NRC
> headquarters - a high-rise building overlooking a busy commercial
> thoroughfare in suburban Maryland. The office seems Spartan, a
> bookcase holds loose-leaf binders filled with regulations and other
> documents, some family and other personal photographs. A bicycle
> stands in one corner.
> Diplomas from two universities hang on the wall - a bachelor's in
> physics and philosophy from Cornell and a doctorate in physics from
> the University of Wisconsin.
>
> "I've moved in," he reassures a visitor. "I'm just a minimalist
> when it comes to decorations." About the bike in the corner, Jaczko
> says he rides it several times a week to work from his home in
> downtown Washington, 20 miles away. At other times he uses the public
> Metro. There's a station across the street.
>