One Step at a Time: The Staged Development of Geologic Repositories for High-Level Radioactive Waste - Summary

A new report from the National Academies proposes a management approach called “adaptive staging” as a promising means to develop geologic repositories for high-level waste such as the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Adaptive staging is a learn-as-you-go process that enables project managers to continuously reevaluate and adjust the program in response to new knowledge and stakeholder input.
Given the impetus for staged approaches, or staging, in radioactive waste repository programs worldwide, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requested that the National Academies provide advice on how to implement staging during the construction, operation, closure, and post-closure phases of a repository program. The resultant report, One Step at a Time: The Staged Development of Geologic Repositories for High-Level Radioactive Waste, addresses staging as applied to a generic repository program with applications to the U.S. program at Yucca Mountain.