Presented to Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that 11 commercial and public consortia have been selected to receive up to $16 million in grants, subject to negotiation, to conduct detailed siting studies for integrated spent fuel recycling facilities under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) initiative. DOE will award the grants early next year after negotiations are completed with prospective awardees.

Press Release - DOE Seeks Public-Private Sector Expressions of Interest for Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Initiative

Presented to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future Subcommittee on Disposal

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman today announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking expressions of interest from the public and private sectors by March 31, 2006, to propose and evaluate sites suitable for demonstrating advanced recycling technologies under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).

As nuclear power assumes an increasingly important role in meeting the nation&#39;s requirements for electrical energy, the quantity of radioactive wastes will also increase. The wastes of primary concern -<br/>designated &quot;high-level&quot; and &quot;alpha&quot; wastes - contain radioactive nuclides that decay so slowly as to require that they be isolated from the biosphere for thousands of years.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 established the federal<br/>Office of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator for a 5-year period. The Nuclear<br/>Waste Negotiator, appointed by the President and confirmed by the<br/>Senate, was empowered to attempt to find a state or Indian tribe willing<br/>to host a repository or a monitored retrievable storage (MB) facility for the<br/>permanent or temporary storage of nuclear waste, respectively.

Consideration of the technical feasibility of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for a high-level nuclear<br/>waste repository has led to an intense debate regarding the economic, social, and political impacts of the<br/>repository.

Geologic repositories for radioactive waste are evolving<br/>from conceptualization to the development of specific<br/>designs. Estimates of long-term hazards must be based<br/>upon quantitative predictions of environmental releases<br/>over time periods of hundreds of thousands of years and<br/>longer.

Results of the evaluation of data from area studies in salt domes of the interior basins of the Gulf Coast region are presented, along with background information about salt domes, the site qualification process, and data collection and analysis methods;

Results of the evaluation of data from area studies in salt domes of the interior basins of the Gulf Coast region are presented, along with background information about salt domes, the site qualification process, and data collection and analysis methods; discussions of the geologic and environmental data obtained for the eight salt domes under investigation during area studies; and analysis of the data according to preestablished criteria.

After an exhaustive review process that encompassed EPAÕs proposed rule, as presented in the Federal Register Notice, as well as the reference materials cited in that Notice, Nevada concludes that EPAÕs proposed standard is inconsistent with the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences (as required by the Energy Policy Act of 1992) and the July 9, 2004 ruling of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory<br/>Commission (NRC) is proposing<br/>licensing criteria for disposal of spent<br/>nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive<br/>wastes in the proposed geologic<br/>repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.<br/>These criteria will address the<br/>performance of the repository system at<br/>Yucca Mountain, a system that must<br/>comprise both natural and engineered<br/>barriers.

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.

19th Annual Symposium-Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is responsible for implementing Adaptive Phased Management (APM), Canada’s plan for the long-term care of the used nuclear fuel produced by Canada’s nuclear reactors.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) has decided to cancel the preparation of the<br/>Global Nuclear Energy Partnership<br/>Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS–0396). This notice briefly describes the history of the GNEP<br/>PEIS.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of the Draft Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft GNEP PEIS, DOE/EIS–0396).

The potentially adverse condition identified at 10 CFR 60.122(c)(16), evidence of extreme<br/>erosion during the Quaternary Period, has been determined to not be present at Yucca<br/>Mountain. A literature search for typical hillslope erosion rates in the U.S. and the world was<br/>performed to establish a range of typical values for erosion rates. Low to moderate erosion<br/>rates in the U.S. were identified to range from 2 to 50 centimeters per thousand years (cm/ka)<br/>in semiarid environments.

Joint Convention Answers on Questions to Hungary in 2009

Joint Convention Questions Posted to Hungary in 2006

Comments by John Greeves, Former Director, Division of Waste Management, NRC, presented to BRC Disposal Subcommittee

On February 14, 2002, U.S.

The importance of social and institutional issues in the siting of nuclear waste facilities has been recognized in recent years. Limited evidence from a survey of rural Wisconsin residents in 1980 indicates that incentives may help achieve the twin goals of increasing local support and decreasing local opposition to hosting nuclear waste facilities.