P180 flight crew experienced turbine failure passing 14500 FT during climb. Engine was shut down and flight returned to departure airport.

Narrative

Our flight departed one hour fifty-six minutes late due to thunderstorm activity in the area. Startup; taxi; and takeoff engine indications were nominal. During departure; we were being vectored around areas of weather activity with several step-climb altitudes assigned. Climbing through 14;500 FT; a loud pop was heard. Engine indications and aircraft yaw showed the right engine had failed. There was also an immediately noticeable vibration. Given the symptoms; I made the decision to secure the engine right away. We went through the in-flight engine failure and securing checklists and declared an emergency. ATC asked the expected questions such as fuel and number of people on board and our intentions. Even though there were closer airports to our location; we considered the altitude we had to lose; multiple long runways and superb CFR equipment at our departure airport; we decided to return there. Using single-engine landing procedures; an uneventful landing was accomplished. Visual inspection showed severe damage to the turbine disk visible in the exhaust stacks and engine oil was leaking from the top and bottom of the nacelle. Other damage was to the prop blades and fuselage apparently due to metal fragments ejected from the engine.