DOE "unlikely" to meet 2010 goal for Yucca plan - GAO
Date: 24-Dec-01
Country: USA
The report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) is little changed from a draft version leaked to the press last month, in which GAO recommended that DOE postpone approval of the project past 2010.
DOE is unlikely to meet its 2010 goal because it "does not have a reliable estimate of when, and (at) what cost, such a repository can be opened," the report said.
DOE disagreed with the findings on the grounds that GAO "did not understand the statutory and regulatory requirements," GAO said.
The site in the Nevada desert would store 70,000 tons of radioactive materials from nuclear power plants for an estimated 10,000 years.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's main lobbying arm, has pressed DOE to make its recommendation to the administration before year end.
If Bush approves the project, it still faces a long path to fruition. That includes multiple comment periods for Nevada and other states to air objections, a congressional vote and a four-year NRC review before construction on Yucca could proceed.
