Carson City-September 5, 2001

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SUPPLEMENT TO THE DRAFT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
for a
Geologic Repository for the Disposal of
Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level
Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain,
Nye County, Nevada

REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
Taken on Wednesday, September 5, 2001
at 6:00 p.m.
At the Carson City Legislative Building
Carson City, Nevada

Reported by: Debora Ann Kreidler, CCR #719

APPEARANCES:	ANNE MARSHALL Moderator
	JOE ZIEGLER PAIGE RUSSEL Department of Energy
	LANI FELLOWS Bechtel SAIC

---o0o---

(Listening to live broadcast from Las Vegas.)

ANNE MARSHALL: Welcome to Carson City. I'm Ann Marshall. I'm the moderator for the Carson City part of the hearing. Our first speaker is Isabel Young. If you would please come to this podium, we will hear your speak -- your presentation.

And would Arthur Horsell please move to the front row if you're not already there, and also, Kathy Lamb, in case our comments are short and we can squeeze a third one in.

ISABEL YOUNG: Well, about five years ago I read that the man who was head of the Los Alamos Lab during the war stated that the nuclear waste could be neutralized. Then it came up just about a few months ago when I was talking to one of our prominent lawyers, and he said, oh, Isabel, that's a myth.

Well, my name is Isabel Young. And I'm -- the mayor has nicknamed me an activist. I'm more of a positive thinker. My mother was one. And she used to say there's only two answers, yes or no. Never take no for an answer. And I don't.

The end result was I was talking to this lawyer, and he said, oh, that's a myth. I said, well, Iunderstand they do it in France and almost all of Europe. And I wasn't sure how many countries in Europe did it. But that prompted me to call the embassy in Washington -- the French Embassy in Washington and ask them, do you neutralize the waste. And they forwarded me something from one of their doctors who was in charge of the nuclear energy.

In essence, it says, I've been forwarded your request sent to the French Trade Commission. And this is what it says. "I'm not sure what you mean by neutralizing. Only two ways, France is reprocessing and recycling." Well, it's just terminology. "And they spent fuel from commercial reactors leading to slightly enriched uranium and plutonium to be recycled as Mox, M-O-X, fuel and high-level waste, which is a fission product. And minor" -- I never heard of this word -- actonaise (phonetic), which is vitrified." I guess that means put in glass. I'm not sure. "All this does is limit the volume and the radioactivity of the waste, but it does not address the need for long-term management of some waste. And may I suggest you look at our web site." And then he gives the web site.

Well, of course, then I called our nuclear waste office here in Carson and I said to them, are they neutralizing it in France. And they said, yes, they do, but it's economically feasible there, but not economically feasible here.

Well, that's a joke. If this, as the richest country in the world, can't do it and France can do it, there's something wrong. However, like most -- like the thermal plants and other plants, it usually takes ten years or so to build. But I think, and I'm sure you all agree, that people should keep their waste in the state that the waste is in. And then definitely -- and then you'd have -- do away with the nuclear plants.

And I think it's called -- I don't know if any of your people read the Nevada Appeal this morning. There was an article by a man Lodi Bettaneri (phonetic). And I spoke with him. He's in Las Vegas tonight. And he spoke of the fuelcell2000.com web site. He said it would be interesting to look at it, because there's no need for us to do what we're doing.

And I think we all agree. It's kind of like we're listening to these people, and like five years ago, when I called up Senator Bryant's office and spoke to them, and they said -- I said, why aren't we hearing about this if they're doing it in France? And he said, the DOE isn't interested, one of his representatives. So I said, make them interested. This is ridiculous.

But then it came up again, as I say, recently when I was speaking to one of our prominent lawyers, who told me it was a myth they do it in France. Obviously, it's not a myth, because I have a fax from the embassy in Washington saying that they do it.

But whatever you call it, whether you call it reprocessing or recycling, that is the answer, not to bury it in Yucca Mountain, because who knows whether all the money that was spent, that's where the money is. There's no profit in nuclear waste, but there's profit in asking your government for $10 million to devise a container to put it in, or $10 million to test the soil at Yucca Mountain and find out it will or won't. And so we won't be around in 10,000 years. We won't know whether they really did what they said they did.

So I would say write letters, make phone calls, stand up and be heard. And that's certainly what's happened tonight. I don't think that we have to worry about how we conduct these meetings. We could conduct them on a corner. But at any rate, I think, talk to your neighbors and tell them to make phone calls to Senator Reid, to anyone they can think of, write letters -- write a letter, that must be a foreign word. I mean E-mail them. Do anything to make yourself known. Because, if they know that you are interested, they'll do something.

I'm sorry, I can't read it from here. Your time is up, maybe; is that what it says?

Thank you.

ANNE MARSHALL: Our next speaker is Arthur Horsell.

ARTHUR HORSELL: Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Arthur Horsell, Carson City. I'll make it brief.

I don't think any state -- we've all had waste in every state. And it's always been traditional that every state keeps their own wastes. Could you imagine us wanting to take all the garbage from the State of Nevada and give it to California? Do you think they would raise their arms or raise hell with us? Naturally.

I hope this stuff could be neutralized, but if it can't, there is no safe place to transport it. We've had trouble with hydrogen bombs when they've been broken, radiation.

I just -- I think this thing is -- we'd be lucky if the U.S. senate gets to vote on this. And I think it's -- I think we're screwed. And I feel that we just haven't got a fair hearing at all.

Thank you very much for the comments.

ANNE MARSHALL: I believe we have time for one more if it's brief. Kathy Lamb.

KATHY LAMB: My name's Kathy Lamb. I work for the Commission on Economic Development.

At first I wasn't going to comment tonight, but the more I thought about it, the more I looked at some of the material, I'm going, they haven't addressed one of the big issues that we have in the State of Nevada, and that's seismic activity. Where are the statistics that's going to tell us that the next big quake that hits is going to keep that nuclear waste contained.

The other issue that I have is water. We're all Nevadans. We all know how precious our water resources are. Can they tell us for sure that there will be no water contamination? Will Lake Mead not get radioactivity?

I'd just like some answers, some laymen's terms answers, not doublespeak that comes out of a lot of documents. I think that if enough of us ask these same questions, they might have to take a look at the answers that they're shoving down our throats.

Thank you.

ANNE MARSHALL: Thank you.

(Listening to live broadcast from Las Vegas.)

ANNE MARSHALL: Thank you. And welcome back to Carson City.

I'm going to read the names of the first four -- the next four commentors in the event that we have short comments, and ask that you come forward.

Our first person who will comment at this time is Shirley Swafford, followed by Kelly Goodman. And then if we have time, Bonnie Parnell, and Marta Adams.

If you would come to this one.

SHIRLEY SWAFFORD: Hi. I am deeply concerned about the dangers of transportation. There is no possible way that the Department of Energy can guarantee the shipments of high-level nuclear hazardous waste will be safe as they travel through city streets and states across our country. It takes just one nuclear accident that can cause unbelievably catastrophic results.

During the cold war, security was extremely tight, when everything was a deep dark secret, when every subject was based on a need-to-know basis. Today there are no secrets. There are well-trained terrorists out there with all types of sophisticated equipment in the ways and means of controlling and obtaining information on plutonium as it travels to its final destinations.

Sensors up at Yucca Mountain are meaningless. I believe all shipments will be controlled by computers. Won't a good computer hacker have a ball with that?

I do have a question. Will the individuals driving these huge semi's, as they pass by our neighbor's home on their way to Nevada, be required to have proper security clearance?

When we discuss Yucca Mountain, we must not forget that Nevada is in the top three states of active earthquake faults. And now an interesting rumor has been added to the equation. We will resume our underground testing. How will that affect the Department of Energy's latest environmental impact statement?

Nevada has done much for its country. We accept all types of low-level waste garbage at the Nevada test site. In the past, 714 underground tests were performed. And what about all those tests sent into the atmosphere? Hypothetically, five years down the road, the DOE finds the buried casks have begun to leak, based on past history beginning with the Atomic Energy Commission. Will the DOE tell the people of our country the truth? Here we have leaking casks containing 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear hazardous waste. And what do we do with it?

Thank you.

ANNE MARSHALL: Thank you. Kelly Goodman.

KELLY GOODMAN: Yeah, I'm wondering who's going to be driving the trucks. And I'm also wondering, in the state of the art technology that we have in teleconference here, I don't see anyone except everybody in Carson City. I don't see Reno. I don't see Las Vegas. I don't see Washington. Do we not have enough funds to see each other? I'm a little upset about that.

This is unbelievably -- in a time where science has leading and cutting edge technology, to take something back from the archives and try -- maybe 30 years ago, maybe it would have worked. It's not going to work now.

I love your comments, the terrorism. Who's driving the trucks? Who's responsible in what communities? Is it a small town community who's responsible for the cleanup? Who is responsible for the health and safety and welfare of anyone in the United States that this comes through their communities?

The first thing is Nevada is a state that is built on tourism. It's a service industry state, resorts and service industry. There were 50 million tourists last year that visited the Las Vegas area. Do you think that one spill is going to invite those tourists from Japan, places around the world? They're going to hear that they don't want to come to Nevada. They can go anywhere else. They don't have to come here.

So I'm asking the Department of Energy if each of the persons that are employees of the Department of Energy, if you like this idea and you're backing it, I want to know that you're a hundred percent personally responsible for putting this through. And also personally and financially responsible for the class action lawsuit that will be filed on the behalf of every citizen in the State of Nevada, every citizen that comes to the community and destroys the health and welfare of their communities. Plan on that. You know the tobacco tax? Everybody's getting a lot of money from that. You guys might be next.

The other thing is your wanting to put this nuclear waste on land that does not belong to you. It is not property you want to build a $60 million tomb on, land that is illegally taken over by the Department of Energy.

I disagree with this. I ask the United States government to think wisely and make science -- scientific decisions about solar wind and hydrogen recycling decisions based on new technology, not on an ancient thing. You can just say -- the Department of Energy can just say we don't know what to do with it. So don't do anything with it at all. Just move along and look for better answers than this.

Thank you.

ANNE MARSHALL: Thank you.

I believe we have time for just one more. Bonnie Parnell.

BONNIE PARNELL: Good evening, everyone. For the record, I'm Assembly Woman Bonnie Parnell. And I represent Carson City, District 40. I stand tonight also as a voice for all of the people in the north who do not have their elected officials here to represent them.

Many, and I think last count I saw was about 80 percent of the people in this state oppose the placement of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. I'm proud and honored to stand tonight with Governor Guinn and our congressional delegation in our office of this placement.

Actually, my involvement with nuclear waste started in the early 1980s. I was involved at that time with the Nevada Parent Teacher Association. We started hearing about this and thought, perhaps, it was an issue, political issue, that we needed to take a look at. It was at that time, probably 1984, that the delegation of the PTA here in Nevada decided this was not something they wanted to have in the state.

That opposition continues today. And that opposition came a number of years ago, and continues because of the concern of the impact this could have on future generations and the children of this state.

As an elected official, I've continued to study this issue. And I have the following concerns. The Cal Tech report, which I studied a number of years ago, which question the stability of the site based on the earthquake potential, has somehow been disregarded. I have not seen any reference to that report. And for those of you who are also from Southern California, Cal Tech, when Cal Tech speaks, most people listen.

The transportation, which has been mentioned by a number of people, the transportation of nuclear waste into our state and the implications therein. And another that has not been mentioned, the concern for the other states which this would have to also travel through. The possibility that generations to come may be subject to the effects related to potential groundwater contamination.

The economic impact, a gentleman earlier this evening actually suggested that Las Vegas would be impacted by the loss of energy, or if we could not supply that additional energy. I pose to you that we will not have visitors to the Las Vegas strip if 90 miles north we have high-level nuclear waste.

And I also want to mention, as a northerner, as somebody that's not as close to it as those of you in Las Vegas, but we've had a particular situation here in the north that we've been dealing with, and that is the leukemia cancer cluster. And I think back on the atomic testing, the numbers of cases of radiation where this state has been more than willing to help this country in times of need. This morning I woke up and heard that we now have area 12, which has been working on the Anthrax vaccine in our state.

I say to you in conclusion, I consider myself someone who is always respectful to the other side. And I have been respectful in this room this evening. I simply ask that those at DOE give Nevadans the respect and consideration in this issue that they deserve.

Thank you.

ANNE MARSHALL: Thank you.

That's our last comment for this section. Would Marta Adams hang on, and we'll get to you soon.

(Listening to broadcast.)

ANNE MARSHALL: We will also take a similar break here and for those who wish to stay and continue to watch this, we will keep a crew here to do so, if you just let us know so we'll know whether to stay or -- we'd be happy to keep it open.

(Time noted: 9:35 p.m.)

R E P O R T E R' S C E R T I F I C A T E

I, DEBORA ANN KREIDLER, hereby certify that said proceedings were taken down in shorthand by me, a Certified Court Reporter, and a disinterested person, at the time and place therein stated, and that said proceedings were thereafter reduced to typewriting under my direction and supervision;

Date:

DEBORA ANN KREIDLER,

CCR No. 719

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