Key Issues
Yucca Mountain Licensing Process to Provide Rigorous, Fair Safety Determination
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DOE to Apply for Yucca Mountain License
In 2002, President Bush and Congress approved Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the site for a federal repository for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including defense waste.
In 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., validated the approval of Yucca Mountain, rejecting all but one of the legal challenges to the project. This requires the Environmental Protection Agency and the NRC to address future repository performance beyond the previously specified 10,000 years. The ruling does not affect site approval, and the NRC has stated that it can begin its review of DOE’s construction permit while EPA addresses this issue.
The next step for Yucca Mountain is the federal licensing process. DOE plans to submit an application for construction of the repository at Yucca Mountain to the NRC in June. DOE must obtain separate approval from the NRC to operate the facility.
DOE has spent 20 years and more than $10 billion conducting scientific evaluations that have led to the decision to pursue licensing of the Yucca Mountain site. This work forms the foundation of the department’s license application to the NRC.
The NRC also has been preparing for the licensing process. In addition to dozens of scientists and engineers on its own technical staff, the NRC spends $19 million per year to maintain an independent scientific program at the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses to provide expert input on the project. These experts have reviewed DOE’s scientific and engineering studies and conducted their own scientific and technical investigations to ensure that the NRC will be prepared to conduct a technically sound review of the application.
Proven, Multi-Step Review Process
Although licensing a repository of this kind is a first for both DOE and the NRC, very little about the licensing process itself is new. The NRC has licensed the nation’s 104 commercial reactors and other nuclear facilities, such as uranium enrichment plants and reactor fuel storage facilities.
The agency will use the same rigorous approach to regulation in its review of the Yucca Mountain application, focusing on issues most important to safety during each phase of the process.
These proven regulatory practices are applied over a phased approach uniquely suited to the long-term operation of a repository. Licensing Yucca Mountain is a three-step process:
This systematic approach to licensing the Yucca Mountain repository is similar to the licensing process already proven effective for existing commercial reactors and other nuclear-related facilities.
According to this approach, prospective licensees first seek a construction permit, further refine their design and then seek an operating license that applies specifically to the facility while it is built.
At each step of the process, the NRC’s scientific and technical staff will scrutinize every aspect of DOE’s work.
The NRC staff will prepare a safety evaluation report on the project. This report, along with DOE’s application and the consideration of challenges made by parties intervening in the process, will form the basis on which the NRC makes a licensing determination at each step of the process.
DOE to Apply for Yucca Mountain License
In 2002, President Bush and Congress approved Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the site for a federal repository for used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including defense waste.
In 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., validated the approval of Yucca Mountain, rejecting all but one of the legal challenges to the project. This requires the Environmental Protection Agency and the NRC to address future repository performance beyond the previously specified 10,000 years. The ruling does not affect site approval, and the NRC has stated that it can begin its review of DOE’s construction permit while EPA addresses this issue.
The next step for Yucca Mountain is the federal licensing process. DOE plans to submit an application for construction of the repository at Yucca Mountain to the NRC in June. DOE must obtain separate approval from the NRC to operate the facility.
DOE has spent 20 years and more than $10 billion conducting scientific evaluations that have led to the decision to pursue licensing of the Yucca Mountain site. This work forms the foundation of the department’s license application to the NRC.
The NRC also has been preparing for the licensing process. In addition to dozens of scientists and engineers on its own technical staff, the NRC spends $19 million per year to maintain an independent scientific program at the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses to provide expert input on the project. These experts have reviewed DOE’s scientific and engineering studies and conducted their own scientific and technical investigations to ensure that the NRC will be prepared to conduct a technically sound review of the application.
Proven, Multi-Step Review Process
Although licensing a repository of this kind is a first for both DOE and the NRC, very little about the licensing process itself is new. The NRC has licensed the nation’s 104 commercial reactors and other nuclear facilities, such as uranium enrichment plants and reactor fuel storage facilities.
The agency will use the same rigorous approach to regulation in its review of the Yucca Mountain application, focusing on issues most important to safety during each phase of the process.
These proven regulatory practices are applied over a phased approach uniquely suited to the long-term operation of a repository. Licensing Yucca Mountain is a three-step process:
- DOE will apply for a license to build the repository.
- When the facility is substantially complete, DOE will apply for an amendment to the license to receive used fuel at the repository.
- Once used fuel rods are placed in the facility and monitoring and performance studies are com-plete, DOE will apply for another amendment to close the facility.
This systematic approach to licensing the Yucca Mountain repository is similar to the licensing process already proven effective for existing commercial reactors and other nuclear-related facilities.
According to this approach, prospective licensees first seek a construction permit, further refine their design and then seek an operating license that applies specifically to the facility while it is built.
At each step of the process, the NRC’s scientific and technical staff will scrutinize every aspect of DOE’s work.
The NRC staff will prepare a safety evaluation report on the project. This report, along with DOE’s application and the consideration of challenges made by parties intervening in the process, will form the basis on which the NRC makes a licensing determination at each step of the process.
