"There's no going forward until they get a standard that can withstand challenges."

The recent announcement that U.S. Geological Survey documents may have been falsified in Yucca Mountain studies is a somewhat separate issue but pertinent to the quality and integrity of data used to support the project, she said.

On Thursday, Brian Sandoval, Nevada's attorney general, wrote to U.S. Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales seeking immediate action on the matter.

Gonzales should "direct that DOE immediately make all e-mails relevant to this matter available to my office," Sandoval wrote. (The alleged falsification was brought to light in e-mails.)

"Second, I ask that your office move immediately to secure the entire Yucca Mountain data base at the project site to protect it from further manipulation. To the extent fraudulent activity has occurred, no one connected with the project should be allowed access to the very data being investigated."

According to Adams, the geology at Yucca Mountain is not good for a nuclear waste repository.

"Yucca Mountain itself is in one of the most seismically active zones in the country," she said.

A key issue is groundwater travel time, the rate at which water flows through the mountain, she said.

If water flows through the mountain relatively swiftly, in geological terms, it might erode the storage site sooner than the design standards are supposed to allow.

Adams cited one study carried out in part by Los Alamos National Laboratory that groundwater can travel through the mountain in 50 years.

Researchers "found a radioactive isotope from atomic testing in the Pacific" that suggested a fast travel time through the mountain. "That study put DOE in a hard position to move forward on Yucca Mountain," she said.

DOE then asked the USGS to conduct another examination. It was this testing that was involved with the purportedly falsified information, she said.

"We believe Yucca Mountain's in its death throes," she said. Still, "it's a very concerning situation."

Adams said she believes Utah is "finally waking up (to the fact) that it's not just Nevada's problem."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com