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

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Response<br />

251<br />

GEOLOGIC CONSIDERATIONS<br />

There are presently no quantitative criteria for repository or site qualification.<br />

Until there are and until some site specific data are available, it is not possible to say<br />

what the acceptability criteria are. These may be proposed and then need to be adapted or<br />

modified as the site testing is conducted. At this time, the primary objective is to est-<br />

ablish criteria that protect the environment and the public safety, both for the short and<br />

long-term.<br />

Draft p. 3.1.52<br />

Issue<br />

One commenter felt the belief that all problems can be solved by major efforts is<br />

unjustified. Investigations into a basic research area do not necessarily have satisfactory<br />

outcomes. (113-EPA)<br />

Response<br />

The text has been changed (see Section 5.2). The Statement does not say that the prob-<br />

lem would be solved, but that a serious research effort would yield results. The capability<br />

may never be developed to predict exactly what geologic phenomena will have occurred at a<br />

given location by the end <strong>of</strong> another million years. Research into the processes that affect<br />

and change the earth would certainly yield information on the processes themselves, their<br />

interactions, the driving forces, rates <strong>of</strong> activity, timing <strong>of</strong> events, etc.. All <strong>of</strong> these<br />

items represent areas in which full understanding is lacking. As more understanding is<br />

gained, some <strong>of</strong> the basic uncertainty in predicting geologic events could be reduced or<br />

removed.<br />

Draft p. 3.1.53<br />

Issue<br />

Concerning long-term geologic stability <strong>of</strong> a geologic repository, the statement, "It<br />

(long-term geologic stability) only becomes a concern if and when the test facility or con-<br />

servatively-loaded facility becomes a full-scale repository, and only then when the period<br />

<strong>of</strong> retrievability has ended and the repository is sealed." This statement is true, but the<br />

long term stability certainly must be considered in depth before the repository is sealed.<br />

(214)<br />

Response<br />

Long-term stability <strong>of</strong> a repository is a major consideration <strong>of</strong> the NWTS program.<br />

Laboratory and field observations <strong>of</strong> the behavior with time <strong>of</strong> geologic materials are being

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