DOE’s Science
and Engineering Report triggers public consideration of a
possible decision on the future of Yucca Mountain. On May
4, 2001, DOE opened the public comment period preceding the
agency’s anticipated decision on whether or not to recommend
the Yucca Mountain site for development as a repository, by
releasing its Science and Engineering Report for public
review. This document, the most recent compilation of DOE’s
scientific work to date, found that the proposed repository’s
natural systems and updated engineered barriers will be
capable of preventing any radiation exposures to future
populations for at least 10,000 years. DOE’s scientific
analysis also looked far beyond the proposed 10,000 year
regulatory compliance period and found that, even as the
engineered barriers degrade over a million years, the site’s
geology will slow releases to the point that radiation from
the repository will be well below natural background
levels.
DOE’s Science
and Engineering Report is built on more than twenty years of
scientific investigation. The $6 billion scientific
program behind the Science and Engineering report has been one
of the most extensive technical efforts ever undertaken by the
United States government. It began back in the early 1980s
when nine sites were initially being studied in a process that
eventually led to the completion of Environmental Assessments
for five sites in 1986 and, in 1987, a decision by Congress to
focus study exclusively on Yucca Mountain. Since then,
thousands of scientists and engineers have labored
continuously on the project, collecting a massive body of
data, designing engineered barriers to augment the site’s dry,
stable geology, and refining ever more sophisticated computer
models to project the repository’s future performance. Their
work has earned widespread respect throughout the
international scientific community. Geologic disposal is being
investigated in 16 other nations.
DOE’s
Viability Assessment was the first major milestone in the
Yucca Mountain decision-making process. Compiling the results of
scientific studies conducted up to December 1998, the U.S.
Department of Energy issued the Yucca Mountain Viability. It
described how the natural features of Yucca Mountain will work
in concert with the repository’s engineered design to protect
public health and safety for thousands of years into the
future. It also explained how the preliminary repository
design would work, what it would take to license it and how
much it would cost —thus laying the groundwork for the
capstone scientific program that has lead to this year's
Science and Engineering Report and the Department’s ongoing
preparations for an anticipated presidential
decision.
Next steps
for Yucca Mountain approval after the Science and Engineering
Report. This report is the first in a series of documents
DOE intends to issue this year in preparation for a decision
on whether or not to move forward with the project. In June
the Department is expected to address a number of additional
scientific questions in a Supplemental Science and Performance
Analysis. This will be followed later in the summer by a
Preliminary Site Suitability Report that will compare the
scientific results to regulatory criteria so that a final
suitability finding can be made. The results of this
comparison, as well as additional scientific updates will then
form the basis for a recommendation by the Secretary of Energy
to the President – this is anticipated by the end of the year.
If the president approves the recommendation, DOE will apply
to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to build
it. At this point, the state of Nevada can submit a "notice of
disapproval," which can be overruled only by a majority vote
in Congress.
