The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is evaluating the safety and security of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stored in dry casks for extended time periods before transportation to a location where the SNF is further processed or permanently disposed.

Several hundred distinct types of DOE-owned spent nuclear fuel (DSNF) may potentially be disposed in the Yucca Mountain repository. These fuel types represent many more types than can be viably individually examined for their effect on the Total System Performance Assessment for the License Application (TSPA-LA). Additionally, for most of these fuel types, there is no known direct experimental test data for the degradation and dissolution of the waste form in repository groundwaters.

Radioactive waste management is embedded in broader societal issues such as the
environment, risk management, energy, health policy and sustainability. In all
these fields, there is an increasing demand for public involvement, participation
and engagement. Involvement may take different forms at different phases and
can include sharing information, consulting, dialoguing or deliberating on
decisions with relevant stakeholders. Stakeholder involvement should be seen as a