Current Newsletter - Fall 2007

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U. S. Department of Energy Seeks Public Comment– Hearing in Goldfield on November 27th

Las Vegas, NV — The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) on October 10, 2007 issued for public comment two Draft National Environmental Policy Act documents related to the Yucca Mountain Project. The 90-day comment period begins October 12, 2007 and ends January 10, 2008.

• Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Moun- U. S. Department of Energy Seeks Public Comments– Hearing in Goldfi eld on November 27th tain, Nye County, Nevada (Draft Repository SEIS)

• 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 (Draft Nevada Rail Corridor SEIS) and 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 (Draft Rail Alignment EIS).

The f rst document, the Draft Repository SEIS, is a supplement to the Yucca Mountain Final EIS that DOE issued in 2002. The Draft Repository SEIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts of constructing and operating the Yucca Mountain repository under the repository design and operational plans that have been developed since the Yucca Mountain Final EIS was issued.

The second document relates to the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in Nevada and contains two parts. The first part, the Draft Nevada Rail Corridor SEIS, considers the potential environmental impacts of transport along the Mina corridor, which was analyzed in response to public comments. It also updates the information and analysis for other Nevada rail corridors evaluated in the Yucca Mountain Final EIS. The second part, the Draft Rail Alignment EIS, evaluates the potential environmental impacts of constructing and operating a railroad along specific alignments for both the Mina and Caliente corridors, although Caliente is the Department’s preferred corridor.

DOE has scheduled eight public hearings for interested parties to comment on the two draft documents. The meetings are scheduled as follows:

• Town of Amargosa Valley, Nevada. Longstreet Inn & Casino, Highway 373, November 26, 2007, from 4 to 7 p.m.

• Goldfield, Nevada. Goldfield School Gymnasium, Hall & Euclid, November 27, 2007, from 4 to 7 p.m.

• Lone Pine, California. Statham Hall, 138 N. Jackson Street, November 29, 2007, from 4 to 7 p.m.

• Las Vegas, Nevada. Cashman Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd., December 3, 2007, from 4 to 7 p.m.

• Washington, D.C. Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th Street, N.W., December 5, 2007, from 2 to 5 p.m.

Requests for additional information on the Draft Repository SEIS and the Draft Nevada Rail Corridor SEIS and Draft Rail Alignment EIS may be submitted to the EIS Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, 1551 Hillshire Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89134 or by calling 1-800-967-3477 or faxing a request to 1-800-967-0739.

Written comments may be submitted to the EIS Office at the above address, or by fax to 1-800-967-0739, or via the Internet at: http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov.

These documents represent two major milestones on the path to DOE’s submittal of an application for construction authorization to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by June 30, 2008. Yucca Mountain was approved by the Congress and the President as the site for the nation’s first permanent spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste geologic repository.

U.S. Department of Energy Certifies Its Document Collection for Yucca Mountain License Application

Esmeralda County Submits “LSN” Certifi cation with NRC

In order to participate in the hearings, the Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program (ROP) has prepared and submitted their document collection to the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC) Licensing Support Network (LSN) web portal. This collection will be what the ROP intends to rely on and/or to cite in support of its position in the proceeding that includes public hearings. During the proceeding, DOE will address contentions (points of disagreement with DOE’s license application) submitted to the Board....

Energy Department says Yucca Mountain faces funding shortfall

Washington (AP) — The proposed nuclear-waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada will need up to three times its current funding or the program’s 2017 opening date will have to be delayed, a top Energy Department official said Thursday. Edward F. Sproat III, director of the agency’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, told the House Budget Committee that beginning next year a doubling or tripling of annual project funding would be needed.

The cost of building and operating the nuclear waste site through 2119 was estimated in 2001 to be $57.5 billion, including costs incurred since the project began in 1983. A revised estimate expected by the end of this year will include the cost of accepting about 30 percent more spent nuclear fuel through the repository’s closing in 2133, Sproat said.

Without the increased funding, Sproat said, it will not be possible to set a credible opening date for the nuclear waste repository and the government’s financial liability will continue to grow.

Yucca Mountain was designated in the 1980s as the country’s nuclear waste repository and the Energy Department was required to open the Nevada site by 1998. But the project has been bogged down by lawsuits and other controversy, and the earliest possible opening date is 2017.

The program has spent $11 billion in 2000 constant dollars since 1983, Sproat said. It is funded by a per-kilowatthour fee on all domestic nuclear generation and currently has a balance of about $20.7 billion invested in U.S. Treasury instruments. The government receives about $750 million per....

Esmeralda County Repository Oversight Program (ROP) Exhibit Open House (Ribbon Cutting) and Tri-State Truck and Cask Exhibit

The Tri-State truck and cask exhibit and the ROP exhibit area open house was held on August 18, 2007 during the Goldfield Days weekend. During the very successful three day event over 300 people visited the ROP facilities. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the exhibit area attracted over 200 people. Ice cream cones were provided by The Robert List Company to all those in attendance. Those participating in the ribbon cutting included: Commissioner R. J. Gillum, Advisory Council members Allen Metscher, Lori Dunn, Mike Anderson, Rita Gillum and Superintendent of Esmeralda School District Bob Aumaugher. Bobbie Pope from Bechtel SAIC Company (contractor to DOE for the YMP) was in attendance all three days and provided additional exhibit information and assistance in answering questions from the public. Sally Christensen, The Robert List Company Executive Administrator and Pat Aumaugher, ROP Resident Coordinator also assisted with the three day ROP events.

Keith and Trudy Stroup the husband wife team who drive the Tri-State truck did a great job of answering questions and providing information regarding transporting spent fuel by truck. They both have been transporting high level nuclear waste for almost a decade; consequently they are true professionals in the industry and provide much confidence when meeting the public.

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