Candidate study areas are screened from the Palo Duro and Dalhart Basin areas using data obtained from studies to date and criteria and specifications that consider: rock geometry; rock characteristics; human intrusion potential; surface characteristics; and environmental and socioeconomic conditions. Two preferred locations are recommended from among these areas for additional characterization to identify potential National Waste Terminal Storage (NWTS) salt repository sites.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing technical criteria for disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW] in geologic repositories, as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. The criteria address siting, design, and performance of a geologic repository, and the design and performance of the package which contains the waste within the geologic repository. Also included are criteria for monitoring and testing programs, performance confirmation, quality assurance, and personnel training and certification.

Comments contained in this document were received by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the Report of Early Site Suitability Evaluation (ESSE) of the Potential Repository Site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, (Younker et al., 1992, SAIC 91/8000). Comments were received from the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the State of Nevada, and several local affected governments in Nevada. No comments were received from members of the public.

The thick and regionally extensive sequence of shales and associated clastic sedimentary rocks of Late Devonian and Early Mississippian age has been considered among the “nonsalt geologies” for deep subsurface containment of high-level radioactive wastes.

The importance of social and institutional issues in the siting of nuclear waste facilities has been recognized in recent years. Limited evidence from a survey of rural Wisconsin residents in 1980 indicates that incentives may help achieve the twin goals of increasing local support and decreasing local opposition to hosting nuclear waste facilities.

Deep geologic repositories are being widely studied as the most favored method of disposal of nuclear waste. Scientists search for repository sites in salt, basalt, tuff and granite that are geologically and hydrologically suitable. The systematic evaluation of the safety and reliability of deep geologic disposal centers around the concept of interacting multiple barriers. The simplest element to describe of the geologic barrier is the physical isolation of the waste in a remote region at some depth within the rock unit.

Letter to The Honorable Nancy L. Kassebaum from J. Dexter Peach, Director, U.S. General Accounting Office

The National Plan for Siting High-Level Radioactive Waste Repositories describes the process the Department of Energy (DOE) is using to find sites suitable for disposal of high-level radioactive waste.