POWER May 2010 - 22

Nuclear Power
If Not at Yucca, Then Where?
If the desolate Yucca Mountain location (on
federal land) is unacceptable, can there possibly
be another politically acceptable location
for such a repository in the lower 48 states?
Probably not. However, the second paragraph
of the DOE press release describes the next
steps in the process that the DOE has been
directed to take: " President Obama is fully
committed to ensuring that the Nation meets
our long-term storage obligations for nuclear
waste, " said DOE General Counsel Scott Blake
Harris. " In light of the decision not to proceed
with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository,
the President directed Secretary Chu
to establish the Blue Ribbon Commission on
America's Nuclear Future to conduct a comprehensive
review of policies for managing
the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and to
provide recommendations for developing a
safe, long-term solution to managing the Nation's
used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. "
If we are enlightened by history, this committee
will be unable to identify a politically
acceptable site within the two years given to
produce a final report. We believe that, absent
suitable representation from the utility industry-Exelon's
John Rowe is the only utility
representative on the 15-member commission
composed mainly of former politicians and
political appointees, five university professors,
and several think tank associates-the
process will be troubled from the start. The
commission is being co-chaired by former
Congressman Lee Hamilton, who represented
Indiana's 9th congressional district from
1965 to 1999 and served on the 9/11 Commission,
and Brent Scowcroft, who served
as the national security advisor to Presidents
Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
Once the interim report is released in 18
months (and rest assured the candidate locations
will be leaked early and often), the
extreme political pressure on Chu will surely
delay the final report.
This commission's report is reminiscent of
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and its provisions
for identifying " Corridors of National
Interest. " In that case, the DOE prepared an
interim report for the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) listing perhaps
a dozen regions where FERC should take
action to enforce construction of interstate
transmission lines when they were blocked
by individual states. Within weeks, political
fallout caused the draft report to be removed
from the DOE website. When the DOE report
was finally issued many months later,
only two regions were listed. Moreover, absolutely
no further progress has been made
over the past two years.
Why should we expect faster progress by
the DOE on a much more contentious issue
than power lines? In addition, the time given to
committee members to complete their work is
out of balance with that of past studies, which
we'll discuss later. Also, witness the fine hand
of Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Withdrawing
the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) application " with prejudice "
eliminates that site from further consideration
by the Blue Ribbon Commission.
Underlying motives are always unclear
when blue ribbon commissions are appointed.
Yes, the political landscape has changed
since a similar location survey was completed
about 20 years ago-that one identifying
Yucca Mountain by name in legislation as
the nation's SNF repository. Nevertheless,
appointing this blue ribbon commission and
apparently pushing for a new long-term SNF
repository was an excellent strategic move
for the administration. If the federal government
does not continue its quest for a longterm
repository for SNF, then ratepayers are
due a $33 billion refund from the NWF (plus
interest, we would assume, since 1983). Furcircle
16 on reader service card
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POWER May 2010

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