Operation
If the Department of Energy finds Yucca Mountain a suitable site
for a repository, it must obtain a license
from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission before building and operating the repository.
According to current project schedules, the earliest the department
could start operating a repository at Yucca Mountain is 2010.
Repository operations will include all activities associated
with:
- transporting and receiving highly radioactive materials
- preparing the materials for placement in the repository
- placing the materials in the repository
- monitoring the repository over the long term
The department estimates that it will take 25 years to receive
and place the materials in the repository. Experts will continually
monitor the repository until the secretary of energy makes a
decision to close it.
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