EPRI Review of Geologic Disposal for Used Fuel and High Level Radioactive Waste: Volume II --U.S. Regulations for Geologic Disposal

U.S. efforts to site and construct a deep geologic repository for used fuel and high level
radioactive waste (HLW) proceeded in fits and starts over a three decade period from the late
1950s until 1982, when the U.S. Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). This
legislation codified a national approach for developing a deep geologic repository. Amendment
of the NWPA in 1987 resulted in a number of dramatic changes in direction for the U.S.
program, most notably the selection of Yucca Mountain as the only site of the three remaining
candidates for continued investigation. This report reviews the complex history of site screening
and selection prior to the NWPA Amendments in 1987 and represents one in a series of technical
reports EPRI is preparing in 2010 on storage, disposal, and advanced fuel cycle issues arising in
the management of used fuel and HLW.