[NukeNet] Layoffs planned at Nevada's proposed nuclear waste dump

[MJ]

July 15, 2006
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jul/15/071510922.html
Layoffs planned at Nevada's proposed nuclear waste dump

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS (AP) - As many as 500 workers at the proposed nuclear waste dump
at Yucca Mountain will receive notices next week that they might be laid
off at the end of September.

Officials said Friday that the layoffs were part of an ongoing
reorganization at the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Notices are being prepared for about a fourth of the work force employed
by managing contractor Bechtel SAIC and for its commercial and federal
laboratory subcontractors, Bechtel spokesman Jason Bohne said.

Many of the employees affected are scientists, engineers, computer
modelers and technical workers. Some of the workers are expected to be
retained by Bechtel as it repositions its work plans, Bohne said.

Others are expected to be offered jobs by the Sandia National
Laboratories, which is taking over portions of the Yucca project from
Bechtel.

Bohne and Sandia representative Kate Rivera said they did not know how
many workers might be offered new jobs and how many might face layoffs in
the fall.

The Energy Department announced the reorganization in January, saying it
expected the transition to be complete by October.

Under the reorganization Sandia will assume control of science and
technical components, including projections of how long the underground
repository might prevent residue of highly radioactive and decaying
nuclear waste from escaping into the environment.

Sandia performed a similar role in coordinating the Waste Isolation Pilot
Project in Carlsbad, N.M., a repository that began receiving transuranic
nuclear waste for disposal in 1999.

DOE managers said the reorganization was designed to improve the project's
credibility with scientists and regulators.

The department wanted to open the dump in 2010, but allegations that
government scientists skirted quality control requirements and a federal
court's invalidation of the government's proposed radiation safety
standards have pushed back the opening date.

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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com

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Molly Johnson 
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA  93451
Cell: 805 296-0524

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