Federal Register, Department of Energy, Use of the 10 CFR Part 960 Siting Guidelines in Evaluating the Suitability of the Yucca Mountain Site

The U.S. Department of<br/>Energy (DOE), Office of Civilian<br/>Radioactive Waste Management<br/>(OCRWM), today gives notice of the<br/>rationale for its recent announcement<br/>that it will use the General Guidelines<br/>for the Recommendation of Sites for the<br/>Nuclear Waste Repositories (Guidelines)<br/>in 10 CFR Part 960, as they are currently<br/>written, in its evaluation of the<br/>suitability of the Yucca Mountain site in<br/>Nevada for development as a repository.<br/>As announced, the use of the Guidelines<br/>in this evaluation will be consistent<br/>with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of<br/>1982, as amended (NWPA), including<br/>the programmatic changes and<br/>reconfiguration provided for in the 1987<br/>amendments to the NWPA, the<br/>presentation of this information is in<br/>response to a commitment made by the<br/>DOE to stakeholders at the public<br/>meetings held to discuss the DOE’s<br/>proposed process for evaluating the<br/>suitability of the Yucca Mountain site.<br/>DOE has concluded that the existing<br/>Guidelines should not be amended at<br/>this time.