PROGRAM DETAILS - U.S. Department of Energy

Performance measures:
PART rating: Adequate
FY07 PART measure status : 3 met, 1 unmet
FY07 4 th quarter Joule status: 3 Green, 1 Red
History
Geologic disposal has been the cornerstone of U.S. high-level radioactive waste management
policy for over 30 years. Geologic disposal is also the focus of waste disposition efforts of all
major nations with nuclear power programs and has recently been reaffirmed by independent
studies and major policy reviews in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
U.S. commercial nuclear reactors supply approximately 20 percent of the Nation's electricity and
discharge approximately 2,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel each year. Currently, there is an
inventory of approximately 58,000 metric tons of commercial spent nuclear fuel. Commercial
spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from defense and research activities is stored
at 121 temporary locations in 39 states across the Nation.
OCRWM was created by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA). The NWPA provides
for the development of a permanent, safe geologic repository for disposal of spent nuclear fuel
and high-level radioactive waste. By 1986, the site selection process outlined in the NWPA had
identified three potential repository sites for further site characterization, of which Yucca
Mountain was a candidate. Shortly thereafter, in 1987, the NWPA was amended to direct
OCRWM to focus its scientific site characterization efforts on only the Yucca Mountain site.
Following 15 more years of site characterization studies, in 2002 the Secretary of Energy
concluded that the Yucca Mountain site was scientifically and technically suitable for
development as a repository. In accordance with the process defined in the NWPA, the
Secretary formally recommended the Yucca Mountain site to the President for development as a
repository. The President subsequently reconmnended the site to the Congress. In 2002,
Congress passed and the President signed the Yucca Mountain Development Act, Public Law
107-200, approving the site at Yucca Mountain for development of the Nation's first permanent
repository pursuant to the NWPA.
After more than two decades of gathering and analyzing information about Yucca Mountain, on
June 3, 2008, the Secretary of Energy submitted a license application to the NRC seeking
authorization to construct the repository. The work supporting the application was done by the
Nation's top scientists and engineers. The organizations involved in preparation of the
application include OCRWM and its contractors, eight DOE national laboratories, the U.S.
Geologic Survey, and many colleges and universities.
On September 8, 2008, the NRC accepted for docketing DOE's license application for authority
to construct a geologic repository at a geologic repository operations area at Yucca Mountain,
NV. The NRC staff will conduct a detailed technical review of the license application. In
addition, the NRC will conduct evidentiary hearings on the application before one or more