CONDUCTING THE REVIEW OF A LICENSE APPLICATION FOR A REPOSITORY AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA

Disposal of high-level nuclear waste requires a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license. Part 63 under Title 10 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (i.e., 10 CFR 63, “Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in a Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada”) prescribes rules governing the licensing (including issuance of a construction authorization) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed repository. The licensing regulations are risk-informed and performance-based. The staff has developed the Yucca Mountain Review Plan to guide the review of any DOE license application for a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. The NRC will determine whether to issue a construction authorization and license for the proposed repository based, in part, on whether the DOE has demonstrated compliance with the performance objectives.

The NRC has a congressional mandate that the agency reach a determination within three years on the DOE's application for construction authorization for a high-level radioactive waste repository. Subpart J of 10 CFR 2 (“Procedures Applicable to Proceedings for the Issuance of Licenses for the Receipt of High-Level Radioactive Waste at a Geologic Repository”) contain the rules of practice for the licensing proceeding. NRC staff has developed an information architecture to aid in conducting the licensing proceeding. To shorten the time spent on the exchange of documents that may be used as evidence in the NRC licensing proceeding, the interested governmental participants as well as parties and potential parties to the hearing on the DOE application will make their documents available via the Internet, through the Licensing Support Network (LSN), before any DOE license application is submitted to the NRC. Other parts of the NRC’s information architecture include provisions for electronic information exchange, an electronic hearing docket, and an electronic courtroom. These systems and the risk-informed review process will be further described in the presentation.

The NRC staff views expressed herein are preliminary and do not constitute a final judgment or determination of the matters addressed or of the acceptability of a license application for a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain.