This report is published as a product of the National Waste Terminal Storage (NWTS) program. The objective of this program is the development of terminal waste storage facilities in deep, stable geologic formations for high-level nuclear wastes, including spent fuel elements from commercial power reactors and transuranic nuclear waste for which the federal government is responsible. Pertinent environmental and geological information for the Gulf Interior Region (GIR) is summarized, including physical, biological, and cultural characteristics of the. region.

The purpose of this document is to provide a summary of the environmental impact statement for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) project. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the WIPP was published by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in April 1979. This document was reviewed and commented on by members of the general public, private organizations, and governmental agencies. The Final Environmental Impact Statement was subsequently published in October, 1980.

This document provides environmental input for certain decisions in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program for managing the transuranic radio-active waste generated in the national defense program. This final environ-mental impact statement was preceded by a draft statement published by the DOE in April 1979. Large quantities of radioactive waste have resulted from the production of nuclear weapons and the operation of military reactors in national defense programs. This waste includes both high-level waste (HLW) and transuranic (TRU) waste.

The geology of the southeastern United States was studied to recommend areas that should be considered for field exploration in order to select a site for a radioactive waste repository. The region studied included the Piedmont Province, the Triassic Hasins, and the Atlantic Coastal Plain in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. This study was -entirely a review of literature and existing knowledge from a geotechnical point of view and was performed by subcontractors whose individual reports are listed in the bibliography. No field work was involved.

In the course of producing electrical power in light water reactors (LWRs), the uranium<br/>fuel accumulates fission products until the fission process is no longer efficient for power<br/>production. At that point the fuel is removed from the reactor and stored in water basins<br/>to allow radioactivity to partially decay before further disposition. This fuel is referred<br/>to as &quot;spent fuel.&quot; Although spent fuel as it is discharged from a reactor is intensely<br/>radioactive, it has been stored safely in moderate quantities for decades.

This document provides environmental input for certain decisions in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program for managing the transuranic radio-active waste generated in the national defense program. This final environ-mental impact statement was preceded by a draft statement published by the DOE in April 1979. Large quantities of radioactive waste have resulted from the production of nuclear weapons and the operation of military reactors in national defense programs. This waste includes both high-level waste (HLW) and transuranic (TRU) waste.

The disposal of radioactive waste in the proper geologic environment offers a high potential for isolating the waste from man&#39;s environment for the period of time required for the waste to decay to innocuous levels. As part of the National Waste Terminal Storage Program, the Savannah River Laboratory has responsibility for studies related to the storage of waste in the geologic environment in the Southeast.

In the course of producing electrical power in light water reactors (LWRs), the uranium<br/>fuel accumulates fission products until the fission process is no longer efficient for power<br/>production. At that point the fuel is removed from the reactor and stored in water basins<br/>to allow radioactivity to partially decay before further disposition. This fuel is referred<br/>to as &quot;spent fuel.&quot; Although spent fuel as it is discharged from a reactor is intensely<br/>radioactive, it has been stored safely in moderate quantities for decades.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible application of environmental conflict mediation techniques to the siting of a nuclear waste repository. Since much has been written about the issues in nuclear waste management ~n other contexts (see particularly Bishop, et al., 1978; Abrams, 1979; Hewlett, 1978; Interagency Review Group, 1979; Schilling & Nealey, 1979) our focus will be to describe and analyze the major characteristics of a range of techniques that can broadly be called environmental mediation.

Presented in this report are the results of the site locality identification study for the Hanford Site using a screening process. To enable evaluation of the entire Hanford Site, the screening process was applied to a somewhat larger area; i.e., the Pasco Basin. The study consisted of a series of screening steps that progressively focused on smaller areas which are within the Hanford Site and which had a higher potential for containing suitable repository sites for nuclear waste than the areas not included for further study.