The House subcommittee on the federal work force that is investigating data falsification at Yucca Mountain has issued a subpoena to the Department of Energy (DoE) for documents relating to the scandal.
In an attempt to determine whether the falsification made the work unreliable, the subcommittee is seeking more technical studies in the face of DoE resistance. The subpoena followed a missed deadline set by the subcommittee chair, Nevada representative Jon Porter, for the department to hand over documents including personnel records of scientists on the project, organisational charts and research details.
The department had previously offered to let committee members see the documents, but following the release of controversial emails, the DoE is refusing to release copies of the documents. A spokesman is quoted as saying: ''The department has made every effort to provide the information while ensuring that the documents are handled in a way that does not impair the department's ability to carry out its responsibility under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.''
