This Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was adopted on 29 September 1997 in Vienna diplomatic Conference. Estonia signed the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management 05 January 2001. Estonian Parliament ratified the convention 19 October 2005. Estonia deposited the instrument of accession to the joint Convention on 03 February 2006. The convention entered into force 04 May 2006.

In response to your request, and as a follow-up to the ACNW Working Group meeting with you and your staff on June 17, 1992, we offer the following comments on the Early Site Suitability Evaluation (ESSE) for the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository site. Our comments relate both to the ESSE, as prepared by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and to the draft review prepared by your staff.

This white paper offers some suggestions about how to improve the process in the United States for developing facilities for geologic disposal of used nuclear reactor fuel and high-level radioactive waste. These suggestions look toward the future, and build on what I believe are the lessons that should be learned from the troubled Yucca Mountain repository project.