NRC Staff Issues Volume 3 of Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has published Volume 3 of its safety evaluation report on the proposed underground geologic nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
Volume 3 covers the period after a repository at Yucca Mountain would be permanently closed should NRC authorize construction following completion of the remaining steps in the licensing process. Volume 3 contains the staff’s finding that the Department of Energy’s repository design meets the requirements that apply after the repository is permanently closed, including but not limited to the post-closure performance objectives in NRC’s regulations (in 10 CFR Part 63, Subpart E). These performance objectives include the requirement that the repository be composed of multiple barriers to isolate radioactivity from the environment. The staff also found the proposed repository design meets the NRC’s limits or standards (in 10 CFR Part 63, Subpart L) for individual protection, human intrusion and groundwater protection.
The Department of Energy submitted its Yucca Mountain application in June 2008. The NRC staff published Volume 1 (General Information) of the safety evaluation report in August 2010. After DOE moved to withdraw the application and Congress stopped appropriating funds for the NRC’s review, the agency closed out its application review and published three technical evaluation reports containing the staff’s technical analyses to that point but no regulatory conclusions. The adjudication of nearly 300 contentions filed by various parties contesting the application was also suspended in September 2011.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the NRC in August 2013 to resume the licensing process using currently available funding appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund. That court order led to today’s publication of Volume 3. The staff expects to publish volumes 2 (Repository Safety Before Permanent Closure), 4 (Administrative and Programmatic Requirements) and 5 (License Specifications) by January 2015, as they are completed.
Publication of Volume 3 does not signal whether the NRC might authorize construction of the repository. A final licensing decision, should funds beyond those currently available be appropriated, could come only after completion of the safety evaluation report, a supplement to the Department of Energy’s environmental impact statement, hearings on contentions in the adjudication, and Commission review.
NUREG 1949, Safety Evaluation Report Related to Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Volume 3, is now publicly available in the Page | 2
NRC’s ADAMS online database as ML14288A121. More information on the Yucca Mountain licensing process is available on the NRC website.
ABSTRACT
Volume
3, Repository Safety After Permanent Closure, of this Safety Evaluation
Report (SER) documents the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
staff’s review and evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE)
Safety Analysis Report (SAR), Chapter 2: Repository Safety After
Permanent Closure, provided in DOE’s June 3, 2008, license application,
as updated by DOE on February 19, 2009. In its application, DOE seeks
authorization from the Commission to construct a repository at Yucca
Mountain. The NRC staff also reviewed information DOE provided in
response to the NRC staff’s requests for additional information and
other information that DOE provided related to the SAR. In particular,
SER Volume 3 documents the results of the NRC staff’s evaluation to
determine whether the proposed repository design complies with the
performance objectives and requirements that apply after the repository
is permanently closed. The NRC staff finds, with reasonable expectation,
that DOE has demonstrated compliance
with the NRC regulatory requirements for post closure safety, including,
but not limited to, “Performance objectives for the geologic repository
after permanent closure” in 10 CFR 63.113, “Requirements for
performance assessment” in 10 CFR 63.114, “Requirements for multiple
barriers” in 10 CFR 63.115, and “Postclosure Public Health and
Environmental Standards” in 10 CFR Part 63, Subpart L. In particular,
the NRC staff finds that the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain (1)
is comprised of multiple barriers and (2) based on performance
assessment evaluations that are in compliance with applicable regulatory
requirements, meets the 10 CFR Part 63, Subpart L limits for individual
protection, human intrusion, and separate standards for protection of
groundwater.
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Gary J. Duarte, Director
US Nuclear Energy Foundation
PO Box 2867
Sparks, NV 89432
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