Current Status of the Yucca Mountain Project



Press Update — Here's the most recent comprehensive press news about the status of Yucca Mountain



Background: As of 2019 the status of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain remains uncertain. As way of background, in 2002 Yucca Mountain was officially designated as the site to store the nation's spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. At that time Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommended the site to President George W. Bush, who approved it. As allowed under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), then Governor Kenny Guinn of Nevada vetoed the decision, but the veto was subsequently overturned by Congress.



Prior to 1987, and as required under the NWPA, the Department of Energy had selected ten locations in six states for consideration as potential repository sites. After detailed studies of these sites, President Ronald Reagan approved three sites for detailed site characterization. The three sites were Hanford, Washington; Deaf Smith County, Texas; and Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In 1987 Congress amended the NWPA and directed DOE to study only Yucca Mountain. The Act did provide that if Yucca Mountain was found unsuitable, "site characterization studies" would be stopped. The amended law was subsequently labeled the "Screw Nevada Bill." (More details about how/why Yucca Mountain was chosen)



Site Investigation & Regulatory Oversight: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are primarily responsible for the regulation and disposal of the nation's spent nuclear fuel. NRC regulates the construction and operation of commercial nuclear power plants and spent fuel repositories (e.g., Yucca Mountain). The NRC also regulates the storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel. Under the NWPA as amended, DOE is charged with site investigation and constructions and operation of a federal geologic repository (e.g., Yucca Mountain). By law, the DOE must also apply to the NRC for a license to build the repository and the license must be granted before any construction begins. In 2008 the DOE submitted a license application to the NRC for Yucca Mountain. The 8,600-page license application was submitted by the Bush administration's Energy Department and was accepted for consideration and license review by NRC.



Existing Regulatory Status: In 2011 funding for the Yucca Mountain repository was terminated by the Obama Administration; effective via amendment to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act. This action left the United States without any long term storage site for the disposal of civilian spent reactor fuel and defense generated High Level Waste.



Given funding limitations and other constraints, the DOE and the NRC subsequently and separately suspended their efforts to license the repository at Yucca Mountain; this action lead to law suits filed by several parties aimed at forcing the NRC to resume the licensing proceeding. Specifically, in 2011, the States of South Carolina and Washington, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and others, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking for a writ of mandamus requiring the NRC to restart licensing proceeding for Yucca Mountain.



The court subsequently upheld the desires of the petitioners (granting the writ of mandamus) and on November 18, 2013, the NRC ordered the licensing proceeding restarted and directed its staff to complete work on the Yucca Mountain Safety Evaluation Report (SER). The SER contains NRC's review of the DOE license application, i.e., to insure compliance with NRC licensing regulations for Yucca Mountain. As of January, 2015 the NRC completed all five volumes of the SER. While the NRC staff has concluded that DOE's license applications is "acceptable" it is recommending the NRC deny construction of the repository because DOE doesn't own or have jurisdiction over the land or water where the repository would be built. Recently a supplement to DOE's environmental impact statement for Yucca Mountain was completed which documented that DOE doesn't hold the necessary water rights to support the project. The land encompassing the repository site is also under the control of several different federal agencies, including DOE, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense; and an act of Congress is needed to transfer the lands in question to DOE.



Regarding water rights, DOE would need to obtain those rights from the state of Nevada. Nevada has refused to appropriate the water and litigation challenging that refusal is stayed.



In any event, the NRC has not made a final decision on the repository license application, but the agency could easily vote on DOE'S application to build the repository once environmental reviews are complete, land and water issues are resolved, and after a series of lengthy and complex hearings on challenges from third parties are entertained.



Funding: Federal funding for DOE's repository program is currently nonexistent; as of January 2016, no federal appropriations have been authorized to support NRC licensing and/or DOE site investigations at Yucca Mountain. It's worth noting, however, to date the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has spent at estimated $8 billion studying the site and constructing the exploratory tunnel beneath Yucca Mountain. Moreover, to actually construct and operate a repository at Yucca Mountain, DOE's own estimate suggests the cost could reach $97 billion.



On The Ground Accomplishments: Today the Yucca Mountain site has been abandoned and nothing exists but a boarded up exploratory tunnel; there are no waste disposal tunnels, receiving and handling facilities, and the waste containers and transportation casks have yet to be developed. Moreover, there is no railroad to the site, and the cost to build a railroad through Nevada could exceed $3 billion. Today, the only thing that actually exists at Yucca Mountain is single 5 mile exploratory tunnel.