DOE This Month, November 1991 Vol.14 No.11
U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
page 4, DOE Briefly
MRS Grant Application
The Mescalero Apache Tribe of Mescalero, N.Mex., is the first
recipient of a DOE grant to study the feasibility of siting an
above-ground Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility for the
temporary storage of commercial spent nuclear fuel. The $100,000
grant followed negotiations by the Nuclear Waste Negotiator, David
Leroy. The facility would be subject to licensing by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and to applicable Federal and State
environmental, safety, and health regulations. Grant
applications, available from DOE's Office of Placement and
Administration (202-586-4285) will be accepted until December 31,
1991.
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San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday December 5, 1991
U.S. Hopes Indians Take A-Waste
So far, few tribes show interest in storing spent radioactive fuel
by Bill Workman
Chronicle Peninsula Bureau
David H. LeRoy, the Bush administration's chief nuclear waste
negotiator, tried yesterday to sell Native American leaders on a
controversial deal to set aside tribal lands for federal storage
of spent radioactive fuel from the nation's nuclear power plants.
There was no rush to sign up, however, at a Burlingame
convention of the National Congress of American Indians, the
largest Indian organization in North America. More than 1,500
delegates are attending the weeklong gathering.
Recalling traditional Indian respect and reverence for the
land, LeRoy promised that any tribes who commit to building
nuclear waste storage facilities will "dictate the terms," as well
as retain control of health, safety and environmental protections.
At the same time, he held out to financially strapped tribes
the prospect of more federal money for public works improvements,
health care, education and other economic benefits for those
willing to help the government solve the critical problem of
disposing of 20,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fission rods from
110 power plants.
At least one Indian offical saw a contradiction in LeRoy's
pronouncement about the Indians' "timeless wisdom" in the use of
ancestral land and the notion of turning a large chunk of
reservation over to nuclear waste storage.
"This is the granddaddy of all oxymorons," shouted an
exasperated Mark Mercier of the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde, Ore.
Others rejected the proposal as political suicide. "Look at
the Three Mile Island deal," said Kesley Edmo, council chairman of
Oklahoma's Shashone Bannock tribe. "We're not going to have
anyone ship nuclear waste onto our reservation," he told LeRoy.
Federal law requires that the nuclear fuel - now stored in
pools at the plants - be permanently buried in a deep repository.
Yucca Mountain in Nevada is the only permanent site now under
consideration. But the site, already entangled in lawsuits and
protests, cannot be ready before the year 2010, according to the
Department of Energy.
Meanwhile, the tribes and state governments have been asked
whether they are interested in negotiating for 450-acre storage
sites that would be used for no more that 40 years.
LeRoy mailed letters outlining the nuclear waste proposal to
about 650 tribal leaders and state governors in October. The
deadling for filing an application for a $100,000 study grant is
December 31. But LeRoy conceded that only 10 tribes, none in
California, have expressed any interest.
So far, only the commercially savvy Mescalero Apache tribe of
New Mexico - which has developed a ski center and golf resort,
among other money-making projects - has taken grant money and is
now hiring experts to advise the tribe on whether to set up a
nuclear waste facility at the vast 720-square mile reservation.
Wendell Chino, Mescalero tribal council president,
acknowledged, however, that there is reason to mistrust the
federal government in view of the historic mistreatment of Indians
and breaking of treaties.