A summary of the view of the Nuclear Energy Agency Forum on Stakeholder Confidence with regard to stepwise decision making in the context of long-term management of radioactive waste.

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has completed a performance evaluation of the proposed monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility. This study was undertaken as part of the Department of Energy MRS Program at PNL.

DOE requested $100 million over the next 3 years to develop an MRS facility by 1998. DOE can begin accepting delivery of utilities’ waste by 1998 only by having an MRS facility then. To accomplish this, however, the Nuclear Waste Negotiator must complete a siting agreement and obtain congressional approval of the agreement, including the removal of statutory links to repository development, by the end of 1992. The negotiator does not believe this is possible.<br/><br/>Whether DOE is legally obligated to store or dispose of waste in 1998 is unclear.

Reaching negotiated agreement with a state or Indian tribe and preparing of 1he environmental assessment (EA) required by Section 404 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, as amended (NWPAA), are the first steps in a process intended to result in the acceptance of radioactive waste at a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility starting in 1998. This paper examines requirements for the EA, the first environmental document to be prepared for siting an MRS facility, and discusses the process used to develop that document.