NRC issues plan for Yucca review

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a draft Monday of its final plan that would be used to review an expected application from the Department of Energy to build a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

The 474-page draft plan was released for information, not comment.

The commission's Yucca Mountain Review Plan aims to ensure the quality and uniformity of the NRC's staff reviews of the repository project.

Among the aspects of the plan is a discussion of safety issues regarding the future of the Yucca Mountain site after it is filled with a possible 77,000 tons of nuclear waste and eventually closed.

The plan has separate sections for potential reviews of safety before closing a Yucca Mountain repository, safety after it is closed, a research and development program to resolve safety questions, a program to confirm repository performance and administrative and program requirements.

Each of the sections would define the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of how the Energy Department would meet NRC regulations.

The draft plan has not received commission approval. The NRC could change the plan during its review.

If commissioners approve the plan, the NRC will issue a final version and publish a notice in the Federal Register that includes summarized public comments and changes made to the March 2002 draft.

The staff conducted three public meetings in Nevada on the draft plan and received about 1,000 comments, including those from the NRC's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste.