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Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

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Response<br />

16<br />

SITING ISSUES<br />

While the Statement acknowledges that siting may be affected by factors beyond those<br />

<strong>of</strong> a technical nature, Appendix B states that "satisfaction <strong>of</strong> appropriate technical crite-<br />

ria and siting considerations is essential at each stage" <strong>of</strong> the site-selection process.<br />

Licensing requirements being developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and siting cri-<br />

teria under development by DOE will require any site under consideration for commercial nuc-<br />

lear waste repositories to be examined in detail and compared against relevant technical<br />

criteria for demonstration <strong>of</strong> technical adequacy.<br />

DOE also recognizes that State acceptance <strong>of</strong> a site is an important component in the<br />

waste disposal program. DOE is now and will continue to be consistent with the "consulta-<br />

tion and concurrence" approach recommended by the IRG (IRG 1979) and the President in his<br />

February 12, 1980 message on radioactive waste management. This approach allows for State<br />

and local interests to be. represented in the repository site-selection process.<br />

Issues<br />

Several commenters stated concerns with specific siting problems, including:<br />

* Repository siting should minimize transportation problems by locating near rail<br />

lines. (43, 157)<br />

* Transportation should not occur in a particular area, near population centers or<br />

near food and water supplies. (87, 135, 209, 218-DOI)<br />

* Repositories should not be sited in a particular state or area. (15, 52, 93, 94,<br />

97, 99, 100, 112, 115, 139, 148, 162, 173, 174, 175, 179, 204, 206, 207, 209,<br />

218-DOI)<br />

* A particular site, type <strong>of</strong> site or regional siting was advocated. (2, 6, 28, 35,<br />

71, 74, 115, 116, 136, 139, 180, 181)<br />

* Regional siting should not be used. (35)<br />

Response<br />

The actual siting <strong>of</strong> waste disposal facilities will include consideration <strong>of</strong> minimizing<br />

waste transportation problems during the site-selection process. Site selection or exclu-<br />

sion criteria are being developed by DOE and its contractors and are currently under review<br />

by a broad spectrum <strong>of</strong> reviewers. As stated above, site selection will consider the perti-<br />

nent environmental and legislative issues.<br />

The Foreword notes that it is proposed that several alternative sites for geologic dis-<br />

posal should be qualified in different geologic environments and host rock types prior to<br />

the selection <strong>of</strong> a preferred site for repository construction. Four or five <strong>of</strong> these sites<br />

could be qualified on the basis <strong>of</strong> exploratory or geophysical techniques by 1985 leading to<br />

an operating repository by the mid-1990's.

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