More absurdity at Yucca Mountain

From Las Vegas Sun

DOE: Tunnel supports not a priority for
Yucca

WASHINGTON -- Yucca Mountain tunnel supports that prevent rock falls ultimately are not "important" to safely isolating nuclear waste, the Energy Department said.
The tunnel supports include rock bolts, wire mesh and steel sets that would help hold up tunnel walls and ceilings. The supports used to be on the Energy Department's Yucca "Q list," a catalog of project systems and materials that would be important to safely contain radiation in the proposed nuclear waste repository -- and therefore subject to quality assurance rules.
But the department removed the tunnel supports from the list as of July, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
An Oct. 27 memo written by two Yucca inspectors for the NRC confirmed that project managers had removed the tunnel supports from the Q list after the managers concluded the supports had been "inappropriately classified as important to safety or waste isolation."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," said Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a geologist. "I don't believe that anyone in their right mind would say that the rock bolts and the tunnel walls are not a QA issue. It's always a QA issue.""
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The Energy Department is wrong about that, Gibbons said. Any tunnel collapse or fracture would create new "avenues of escape" for radiation, Gibbons said.
"It's like putting water in a fractured glass," he said.
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But Yucca critics believe the tunnel supports should be subject to the "nuclear safety" Q list. The supports would be vital to ultimately isolating radiation at Yucca and should be subject to the future repository's "QA" safety rules -- even if that means increased costs and trouble, critics said.
"Life gets easier when you don't have to do quality assurance on something," said Judy Treichel, executive director of Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force. "The DOE is always full of bad surprises.""
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"This is just another example of cutting corners to save money and accelerate the project," said lawyer Joe Egan, who is leading legal challenges against Yucca for the state of Nevada.

Some people want this dangerous project to go ahead so badly that basic safety issues are being ignored! One would think that tunnel supports would be one of the most important safety features! This project is simply insane!