The third volume of NRC’s safety evaluation report on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository finds that DOE’s design meets its post-closure performance objectives.

On October 16, 2014, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published Volume 3 of its Safety Evaluation Report (SER) on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) license application for the proposed underground geologic nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The report is a result of a 2013 court ruling that ordered resumption of the pending application review which NRC halted in 2010. It contains the staff’s finding that DOE’s repository design meets NRC’s post-closure performance objectives – providing multiple barriers to isolate radioactivity from the environment – and NRC’s standards for individual protection, human intrusion, and groundwater protection.

The DOE submitted a license application for its Yucca Mountain proposal in June 2008 and NRC published the SER Volume 1 (General Information) in August 2010. Subsequently, NRC issued three technical evaluation reports with no regulatory conclusions and halted the review on grounds that Congress stopped appropriating funds, leading to DOE’s withdrawal of the application. Congress appropriated $11.1M in FY 2011 to conduct the review. The NRC noted that an adjudication of approximately 300 contentions against the application was suspended in September 2011.

In August 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that NRC violated the 1983 Nuclear Waste Policy Act – which sets a three-year timeframe and one-year extension for the review – and ordered NRC to resume its legally mandated review. In November 2013, NRC directed its staff the complete the SER and requested DOE to prepare the supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) required to complete the process.

According to NRC, publication of SER Volume 3 is not indicative of NRC authorization to construct the repository. A final decision – subject to additional fund appropriation – could come after completion of the SER, a supplement to DOE’s EIS, hearings on contentions, and NRC review. The NRC expects to publish the SER volumes 2, 4, and 5 (Repository Safety Before Permanent Closure, Administrative and Programmatic Requirements, and License Specifications, respectively) by January 2015.

Originally published by EnerKnol.

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