[ RadSafe ] Yucca Cancellation & Costs --was: RE: President Obama nominates Dr. Allison Macfarlane to NRC

Fri May 25 14:10:16 CDT 2012

Jim Hardeman below suggests we look at the NRC Commisioner nominee Dr.
MacFarlan's  bio which was published on a specific so-called "Blue Ribbon
Commission" description. This Commission was the "Blue Ribbon Commission on
America's Nuclear Future". She served on the Subcommitte[s] on Disposal as
well as Reactor and Fuel Cycle Technology.
[See: http://www.brc.gov/index.php?q=commissionmember/allison-macfarlane ] 

Why are the findings of essentially every "Blue Ribbon" Commission ignored
by Government?  Perhaps it's that per Wikipedia:

 "The blue ribbon is a term used to describe or symbolize something of high
quality. The usage came from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded about 100
years ago for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger
liners"

Unfortunately, I believe the first Blue Riband [blue ribbon] award was
presented to the Titanic  :-)  which does not bode well for high level
commercial waste disposal occurring in the lifetime of a large fraction of
the members of Radsafe. 

DOE has spent about $12 billion to "characterize" and construct Yucca
Mountain to date, the only site it has proceeded to build. This money comes
out of a surcharge that we all pay on purchasing each kilowatt electricity,
forced to be collected by utilities, and then given to the US government per
a requirement our Government has imposed so it can take possession of
commercial high level waste under Federal law. The US government is holding
these funds in a Nuclear Waste Disposal Fund.  With $32 billion received
from power companies to fund the project to date, and $12 billion spent to
study and build Yucca, the federal government had $27 billion left,
including interest as of 2011.

[NB: The preceding costs are of the date Yucca was effectively terminated
under pressure from the US Government including the current NRC Commissioner
Jaczko. Given the inclinations of the new NRC Commissioner nominee and our
Government's [in]actions, the present position toward cancelling Yucca is
unlikely to change.

In March 2012, US Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a bill requiring
three-fourths of that money in the Nuclear Waste Fund to be given back to
customers, and the remainder to nuclear companies for storage improvements.[
ref. 72]

[72] From: James Rosen (March 13, 2012). "Graham wants Yucca fees repaid in
rebates to electricity customers in S.C.". The Sun News. Retrieved
2012-03-14.

What do you think is the probability of the US Government refunding the
ratepayers of this country $21 billion from the remaining money in the
Nuclear Waste Fund we've each paid into that it is holding, and about $6
billion to nuclear utilities for the extra costs of on-site storage because
of Government failures?? Zero is a nice round number isn't it?

========================================
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Doug Aitken
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 1:26 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] President Obama nominates Dr. Allison Macfarlane to
NRC

Maybe because of the last paragraph of her Bio:
<<In 2006 MIT Press published her book, Uncertainty Underground: Yucca
Mountain and the Nation's High-Level Nuclear Waste, which explores the
unresolved technical issues for nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain,
Nevada.>>

Which probably guarantees no fresh position on YM from the new
management..........

Doug Aitken
QHSE Advisor, Schlumberger D&M Operations Support Cell Phone: 713-562-8585
(alternate e-mail: doug.aitken at slb.com )
Mail: c/o Therese Wigzell,
Schlumberger,
Drilling & Measurements HQ,
300 Schlumberger Drive, MD15,
Sugar Land, Texas 77478

====================================

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of
RDAlarcao at dhhs.state.nh.us
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 11:37 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] President Obama nominates Dr. Allison Macfarlane to
NRC

This makes my wonder, why on Earth can't one of the already seasoned current
Commissioners take the Chair?  It reminds me of when Pres. Bush nominated a
brand new guy (Roberts) for Chief Justice.  Is there some rule that I don't
know about?

Rick D'Alarcao, Ph.D.
Health Physicist
Radiological Health Program
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public
Health Services Bureau of Public Health Protection
29 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03301-6504
Office: (603) 271-7578
Cell (603) 203-1969
Fax: (603) 225-2325
Email: rdalarcao at dhhs.state.nh.us

New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services, Improving Health,
Preventing Disease, Decreasing Costs for All

===========================

             "Jim Hardeman"                                                
             <Jim.Hardeman at dnr.sta                                         
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             05/25/2012 12:27 PM                                           

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   Subject [ RadSafe ] President Obama nominates Dr. Allison Macfarlane to
NRC              

To all:

President Obama has nominated Dr. Allison Macfarlane, Associate Professor of
Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, to the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Upon her confirmation, Dr. Macfarlane
would replace Gregory Jaczko as chair.

See the official White House announcement here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/24/president-obama-announ
ces-more-key-administration-posts

See Dr. Macfarlane's biography on the Blue Ribbon Commission website here:
http://www.brc.gov/index.php?q=commissionmember/allison-macfarlane

Jim Hardeman