Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T23:36:00.974Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Yucca Mountain Project Status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Thomas E. Kiess  and
Stephen H. Hanauer
Thomas E. Kiess
Affiliation:
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
Stephen H. Hanauer
Affiliation:
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
Get access

Abstract

The Yucca Mountain site was designated in July 2002 as the United States' location for a geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive wastes. This site designation was a watershed event in the history of the project, enabling the U.S. Department of Energy to seek a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct and operate a geologic repository. Summarized below are the history and technical basis for this site designation and some key anticipated future events. Many of the significant events to date have been framed by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (and Amendments) and the requirements of the regulatory standard.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 757: Symposium II – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVI , 2002 , II1.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

[1] Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (P.L. 97–425)Google Scholar
[2] Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 (P.L. 100–203)Google Scholar
[3] Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102–486), Section 801Google Scholar
[4] An Evaluation of Commercial Repository Capacity for the Disposal of Defense High-Level Waste. (DOE, Washington, D.C., 1985).Google Scholar
[5] Proposed Method for Assigning Metric Tons of Heavy Metal Values to Defense High-Level Waste Forms to be Disposed of in a Geologic Repository, DOE/RL-87–04. (DOE, Richland, WA, August 1987).Google Scholar
[6] Viability Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain, Total System Performance Assessment. DOE/RW-0508. (DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, North Las Vegas, Nev., December 1998).Google Scholar
[7] Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report: Technical Information Supporting Site Recommendation Consideration, Revision 1. DOE/RW-0539–1 (DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, North Las Vegas, Nev., February 2002).Google Scholar
[8] Yucca Mountain Site Suitability Evaluation. DOE/RW-0549 (DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, North Las Vegas, Nev., February 2002).Google Scholar
[9] Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards. (National Academy Press, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1995).Google Scholar
[10] (EPA, 2001; also 40 CFR 197) Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 197. Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada; Final Rule. In: Federal Register, Vol. 66, No. 114, pp 32074–32135.Google Scholar
[11] (NRC, 2001; also 10 CFR Part 63) Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 63. Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in a Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada; Final Rule. In: Federal Register, Vol. 66, No. 213, pp 55732–55816.Google Scholar
[12] Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada, DOE/EIS-0250F. (DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, February 2002).Google Scholar
[14] Winograd, I. J., Science 212 (4502), pp 1457–1464 (1981).Google Scholar
[15] Roseboom, E. H. Jr, Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste Above the Water Table in Arid Regions, U. S. Geological Survey Circular 903 (1983).Google Scholar
[16] FY01 Supplemental Science and Performance Analyses, Vol. 1 (Document TDR-MGR-PA-000007) and Vol. 2 (Document TDR-MGR-PA-000001). (DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, July 2001).Google Scholar
[17] (NEA, 1995) The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal – A Collective Opinion of the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee. (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency, Paris, 1995).Google Scholar
[18] (NAS, 2001) Disposition of High-Level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Continuing Societal and Technical Challenges. (National Academy Press, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 2001)Google Scholar