Co-Mingled and Defense-Only Repositories

At the request of the staff to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (“BRC”), we have reviewed the following questions:
1. Is there legal authority for DOE or any other entity to undertake to site a repository for “co-mingled” nuclear materials (i.e., civilian and defense spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW)) at any site other than Yucca Mountain?
2. Is there authority to proceed with a permanent repository exclusively for defense-related SNF and HLW at a site other than Yucca Mountain, notwithstanding the decision of President Reagan in 1985 that a separate repository for “defense waste” was not “required?”