RECENT TECHNICAL ISSUES RAISED BY THE STATE OF NEVADA TO BE ADDRESSED SHOULD THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN LICENSE APPLICATION PROCESS BE RESTARTED

A recent State of Nevada sponsored paper presents once again the State's views about the inadequacy of the Yucca Mountain site. While the paper develops arguments to support its conclusion that the Yucca Mountain license application is grossly inadequate, all evidence points otherwise. The expected content of the post closure Safety Evaluation Report required for the licensing hearing is reflected in the Technical Evaluation Report published by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff, which strongly supports a conclusion that the staff accepted the safety arguments and was prepared to recommend that the next steps be taken in the licensing hearings. Technical issues presented in the State’s paper include: arguments that the geological environment alone should provide long-term protection and limit the transport of radionuclides to the human environment in the event of container failure, the integrity of the waste packages, the use of the unsaturated zone for development of a repository, the role of drip shields at Yucca Mountain, and the Safety Case for a repository at Yucca Mountain. Evidence is available to refute the State of Nevada’s position and support the position that the data and information used to prepare the Yucca Mountain repository license application is in fact sound. The action of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to hold temporarily in abeyance the decision on the petition for writ of mandamus to force the restart of the Yucca Mountain license application review can be interpreted as a decision to grant the petition unless Congress enacts statutory text that makes clear that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may not use any appropriated money, including previously appropriated funds, for the Yucca Mountain licensing process. That direction from Congress did not occur. At this time, the Court’s decision has not yet been issued.