We, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are promulgating public health and safety standards for radioactive material stored or disposed of in the potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EnPA, Pub. L. 102Ð486) directs us to develop these standards. Section 801 of the EnPA also requires us to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study to provide findings and recommendations on reasonable standards for protection of the public health and safety.

EPA held a 90-day public comment period for the proposed radiation protection standards for Yucca Mountain (August 27, 1999 through November 26, 1999). Sixty-nine (69) sets of written comments were submitted to EPAÕs Air Docket regarding the proposed standards, although some commenters submitted more than one set of written comments. In addition, the Agency received oral testimony on the proposed standards from 28 speakers during public hearings that were held in Washington, DC; Las Vegas, NV; Amargosa Valley, NV; and Kansas City, MO.

The destructive examination results of five light water reactor rods from the Turkey Point Unit 3 reactor are presented. The examinations included fission gas collection and analyses, burnup and hydrogen analyses, and a metallographic evaluation of the fuel, cladding, oxide, and hydrides. The rods exhibited a low fission gas release with all other results appearing representative for pressurized water reactor fuel rods with similar burnups (28 GWd/MTU) and operating histories.

This report describes the characterization plan, methods, and results for light water reactor (LWR) Materials Characterization Center (MCC) spent fuel Approved Testing Material (ATM)-101. ATM-101 is spent fuel from H. B. Robinson, Unit 2, Assembly B0-5, a moderate-burnup, pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel that released very small quantities of fission products and fission gas from the fuel during commercial operation.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America_s Nuclear Future (BRC) was formed by the Secretary<br>of Energy at the request of the President to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for<br>managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new strategy. It was cochaired<br>by Rep. Lee H. Hamilton and Gen. Brent Scowcroft. Other Commissioners are Mr.<br>Mark H. Ayers, the Hon. Vicky A. Bailey, Dr. Albert Carnesale, Sen. Pete Domenici, Ms. Susan<br>Eisenhower, Sen. Chuck Hagel, Mr. Jonathan Lash, Dr. Allison M. Macfarlane, Dr.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC) was formed by the Secretary of Energy at the request of the President to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new strategy

Download Blue Ribbon Commission Report 2012

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC) was formed by the Secretary of Energy at the request of the President to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and recommend a new strategy

Dealing with the problems posed by nuclear waste management is a major issue confronting continued use of the nuclear fuel cycle. Large amounts of radioactive wastes have already been generated as a result of past nuclear reactor operations, but these wastes are being temporarily kept in aboveground storage facilities awaiting a government policy decision on final disposition. Although research on various technologies to dispose of radioactive wastes is given high priority, a commercial waste disposal facility is not expected to be in operation before 1985.

Summary of Comments for the Blue Ribbon Commission on America&#39;s Nuclear Future by Professor Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, University of Oklahoma

In the November 1989 Report to Congress on Reassessment of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program (DOE/RW-0247), the Secretary of Energy announced an initiative for developing a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility that is to start spent-fuel acceptance in 1998. This facility, which will be licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), will receive spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and provide a limited amount of storage for this spent fuel.

This report has been produced at the request of Congress. The House Appropriations Committee Print that accompanied the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, requests that the U.S. Department of Energy (the Department):<br/>…develop a plan to take custody of spent fuel currently stored at decommissioned reactor sites to both reduce costs that are ultimately borne by the taxpayer and demonstrate that DOE can move forward in the near term with at least some element of nuclear waste policy.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America&#39;s Nuclear Future was formed by the Secretary of<br/>Energy at the direction of the President. The Commission was formed to conduct a<br/>comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including<br/>all alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense used nuclear fuel,<br/>high–level waste, and materials derived from nuclear activities.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) established a program to deal comprehensively with the waste byproducts of nuclear power generation, as well as defense-related radioactive wastes, if appropriate. Under this program, the federal Department of Energy (DOE) must locate and develop a site for disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in a geologic setting capable of isolating them from adverse public and environmental exposure for at least 10,000 and up to 100,000 years.

The effective termination of the Yucca Mountain program by the U.S. Administration in 2009 has further delayed the construction and operation of a permanent disposal facility for used fuel and high level radioactive waste (HLW) in the United States. In concert with this decision, the President directed the Energy Secretary to establish the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future to review and provide recommendations on options for managing used fuel and HLW.

What are the essential elements of technically credible, workable, and publicly acceptable regulations for disposal (in geologic repositories)?

The first worldwide review of geological problems in radioactive waste isolation was published by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in 1991 (Witherspoon, 1991). This review was a compilation of reports that had been submitted to a workshop held in conjunction with the 28th International Geological Congress that took place July 9Ð19, 1989, in Washington, D.C.

In mid-1997, a Wyoming-led group of companies announced plans to develop a private interim spent fuel storage project in Wyoming to be known as the Owl Creek Energy Project. The idea for the Wyoming project had been developed under the earlier 1990s Nuclear Waste Negotiator Program. During that earlier activity, the project would have been a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project.

Presented to Disposal Subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America&#39;s Nuclear Future

Presented to Disposal Subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America&#39;s Nuclear Future

OCRWM Bulletin (DOE/RW-0130) - DOE Sends Proposal to Congress for Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility in Tennessee

Press Release - Three potential candidate sites for a facility to handle, package and temporarily store spent nuclear fuel have been identified by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). If approved by Congress, the facility would receive spent fuel from commercial nuclear power plants nationwide and package it for delivery to a permanent repository for final disposal.

Management of civilian radioactive waste has posed difficult issues for Congress since the beginning of the nuclear power industry in the 1950s. Federal policy is based on the premise that nuclear waste can be disposed of safely, but proposed storage and disposal facilities have frequently been challenged on safety, health, and environmental grounds.