SUBJECT: ACCEPTANCE REVIEW OF THE TOPICAL REPORT TITLED "EVIDENCE OF EXTREME EROSION DURING THE QUATERNARY PERIOD" AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA
The subject of this letter is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's acceptance review of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Topical Report, Evaluation of the Potentially Adverse Condition of Extreme Erosion. During the Quaternary Period' at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, dated March 1993. This review was conducted in accordance with the guidelines established in the NRC Division of High-Level Waste Management Topical Report Review Position Paper (TRPP), provided to DOE on April 7, 1993.
Topical Report - Evaluation of the Potentially Adverse Condition "Evidence of Extreme Erosion During the Quaternary Period" at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
The potentially adverse condition identified at 10 CFR 60.122(c)(16), evidence of extreme<br/>erosion during the Quaternary Period, has been determined to not be present at Yucca<br/>Mountain. A literature search for typical hillslope erosion rates in the U.S. and the world was<br/>performed to establish a range of typical values for erosion rates. Low to moderate erosion<br/>rates in the U.S. were identified to range from 2 to 50 centimeters per thousand years (cm/ka)<br/>in semiarid environments.
