NRC RECEIVES DOE’S LICENSE APPLICATION TO CONSTRUCT 

HIGH-LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received an application today from the U.S. 

Department of Energy for a license to construct the nation’s first geologic repository for highlevel nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nev. 

 “We are ready to get to work on this challenging review,” said NRC Chairman Dale E. 

Klein. “Congress has given the NRC a strict timetable for reviewing this application, and I want 

to assure the American people that we will perform an independent, rigorous and thorough 

examination to determine whether the repository can safely house the nation’s high-level waste. 

The NRC’s licensing decision will be based entirely on the technical merits.” 

 The NRC will now begin a docketing review to determine whether the application is 

sufficiently complete to initiate a formal licensing review. If the application is deemed 

sufficiently complete, the agency will formally docket the application and publish a notice of 

opportunity to request a hearing before the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. A 

decision to docket the application for review would not preclude the NRC from requesting 

additional information or documentation from DOE during the review. If the NRC dockets the 

application, it will announce at that time the extent to which it will adopt DOE’s Final 

Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed repository. 

 Formal docketing of the application will trigger a three-year schedule set by Congress for 

the NRC to determine whether to authorize construction. Congress has given the NRC an option 

to request a one-year extension, and the agency expects to need a fourth year. The NRC expects 

to meet this schedule, subject to Congress providing sufficient resources in a timely manner. 

 NRC’s review is expected to involve more than 100 staff and contractor employees with 

expertise in several scientific disciplines, including geochemistry, hydrology, climatology, 

structural geology, volcanology, seismology, health physics, security, and law, as well as 

chemical, mechanical, nuclear, mining, materials and geological engineering. Staff at NRC’s 

headquarters in Rockville, Md., the Region IV office in Arlington, Texas, and the NRC’s Las 

Vegas office will participate. The Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analysis in San Antonio, 

Texas, a federally funded research and development center, will provide technical assistance to 

the NRC. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 08-106 June 3, 2008
 The NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, under the direction of 

Michael F. Weber, will conduct the licensing review. Within that office, the Division of HighLevel Waste Repository Safety will oversee daily operations for the review. 

 The ASLB Panel includes 16 full-time judges with legal and technical expertise, and is 

headed by Chief Judge E. Roy Hawkens. The panel expects several boards of three judges each 

to be formed to conduct multiple hearings regarding the Yucca Mountain application. Potential 

parties to these hearings indicated earlier this year they intend to file as many as 650 contentions. 

Many of the hearing proceedings will be conducted at the NRC’s Las Vegas Hearing Facility, 

with others held at agency headquarters. 

 

 The NRC’s Licensing Support Network was created as an online library to facilitate the 

hearing process by providing the public and potential hearing parties early access to documents 

related to the application, as well as the application itself. The network is available through the 

NRC’s Web site and at http://lsnnet.gov/. 

 More information about the NRC’s role in regulating the disposal of high-level nuclear 

waste is available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal.html. 

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