EPA Waits on New Standard for Yucca Mountain

At the earliest, EPA will issue a new radiation standard for Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository next year, Jeffrey R. Holmstead, EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation, said last week. The current radiation standard was nullified in a U.S. Appeals Court decision that found the 10,000-year compliance time period in EPA's current standard is in violation of a law setting parameters for the repository (C&EN, July 19, page 5). The Department of Energy had hoped to prepare a license application for the facility by the end of the year, but the court decision is likely to block the application process. Repository supporters, including the Bush Administration, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and several members of Congress, are considering turning to Congress to modify the law that the court said EPA had violated in establishing its standard. However, EPA is not seeking a legislative fix at this time, Holmstead added, speaking at a meeting of a National Academy of Sciences panel. Also addressing the panel was Sam E. Fowler, minority chief counsel for the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, who warned that modifying the law may be seen by the public as an attempt to "dumb down" the standard to allow the repository to be built.