American Nuclear Society Urges Nuclear Regulatory Commission Action On Yucca Mountain

ANS President Eric Loewen sends letters to officials to stress importance and obligation to complete licensing application. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) August 31, 2011 - La Grange Park, IL - The American Nuclear Society (ANS) has delivered letters to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Jaczko and all other Commissioners to urge that the NRC complete the consideration of the licensing application for the Yucca Mountain used fuel repository, ANS President Eric P. Loewen, PhD, announced today. "As a professional and scientific society, the ANS has chosen not to take a position on the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a repository site. However, we have become increasingly concerned that NRC has not defined a clear pathway to complete the licensing process. Failure of the NRC to judge the Yucca application on its merits would be a triumph of shortsighted politics over science. That's why ANS has come off the sidelines," Loewen said.

The letter noted that the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has determined that the motion to "withdraw" the license application by the Department of Energy does not relieve the Commission of its duty to review the application and make a determination on its technical merits, and that the United States Court of Appeals, as recently as July 1, 2011, ruled that the Commission is required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to review the application. Nevertheless, the letter continues, "the NRC, without an open formal decision of its own, has suspended . . . review of the application and . . . refused to release . . . the Safety Evaluation Report."

"Our members are concerned that if the Commission does not act, the Court will order it to do so, thereby inflicting indelible harm to the Commission's reputation for scientific professionalism and independence," continued Loewen. "We urge the Commission to protect its traditions of openness, objectivity and excellence by completing the scientific review of this matter."

The text of the letter may be found at http://www.new.ans.org/about/officers/nrcletters.php

Established in 1954, ANS is a professional organization of engineers and scientists devoted to the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. Its 11,500 members come from diverse technical backgrounds covering the full range of engineering disciplines as well as the physical and biological sciences. They are advancing the application of these technologies to improve the lives of the world community through national and international enterprise within government, academia, research laboratories and private industry.

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