Nevada AG Claims Feds' Probe into State's Complaints "Missed the Point"
Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval this week alleged that federal investigators "missed the point" while probing state officials' arguments that government officials shut them out of important information related to the Yucca Mountain project.

In a letter to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Richard Meserve, Sandoval expressed his concerns with an NRC inspector general's report completed after Sandoval's predecessor, then-Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, filed complaints with the NRC.

Del Papa alleged that NRC and Department of Energy (DOE) staff members were developing policy on the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository at sessions where state representatives and other critics of the nuclear waste repository were excluded.

Sandoval in his letter said the NRC's two-month probe, which cleared staff members of wrong-doing, got the facts wrong and based its findings on "strained analysis." Sandoval added that the investigation "missed the point," which he said was to ensure the NRC "be totally objective and impartial" on the Yucca project "both in perception and reality."

"The real question before you is whether you will respect the principles of fairness and impartiality in connection with any Yucca Mountain licensing proceeding," Sandoval wrote to Meserve.

Sandoval also criticized the inspector general's analysis of an Office of Government Ethics ruling this summer that is preventing Nevada from making full use of a consultant, John Bartlett, a former head of the DOE's Yucca program.

NRC, Environmental Groups Organize Workshops on Nuke Waste Transportation Cask Testing 
Both the NRC and a group of environmental organizations will host public workshops in Southern Nevada next week to obtain input into the controversial issue of transporting spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain.

Seeking public comment on studies related to test protocols for containers used to ship spent nuclear fuel, the NRC will hold two in a series of public workshops and meetings in Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nev.

The NRC's Las Vegas workshop on the Spent Fuel Transportation Package Performance Study Test Protocols (PPS) is scheduled for Thursday, March 12, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Clark County Building Department, 4701 W. Russell Rd. A public meeting and seminar in Pahrump is slated for Friday, March 13, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Mountain View Casino and Bowl, 1750 S. Pahrump Valley Blvd.  A final workshop is planned for Thursday, March 19 in Rosemont, Ill.; the first in the series of meetings was held March 6 at NRC headquarters in Washington, D.C.

All comments provided at the March 12 NRC meeting will be recorded as part of the public comment and input on the PPS.

The NRC is also accepting written comments on the PPS until May 30.  Copies of the PPS are available for review at NRC's publications web page.  Additional copies of the report and other related data are available at the Sandia National Laboratories website.

Comments also may be submitted via e-mail to nrcrep@nrc.gov; in writing to Michael Lesar, Chief Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: T6-D-59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001; or via the NRC website.

Meanwhile, in an effort to provide the public and stakeholder groups with information about NRC's cask testing plan and to facilitate participation in the March 12 meeting, the Shundahai Network, Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, Public Citizen, and Nuclear Information & Resource Service are jointly sponsoring a public workshop in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 11.

The workshop, which will feature a presentation by Bob Halstead of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office, will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Clark County Commission Chambers in the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy.  The meeting is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Lisa Gue at Public Citizen at (702) 369-2730 or Lgue@citizen.org.