Enclosure 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monthly Status Report 

Activities Related to the Yucca Mountain Licensing Action 

Report for February 2015 

Background 

On August 13, 2013, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 

issued its decision in the case In re Aiken County directing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) to “promptly continue with the legally mandated licensing process” for the 

U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) application to construct a geologic repository for 

high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, NV. The NRC promptly began taking steps to comply with 

the court’s direction following the issuance of the decision. On November 18, 2013, the 

Commission approved a memorandum and order, which set a course of action for the Yucca 

Mountain licensing process that is consistent with the Appeals Court decision and with the 

resources available. The Commission also issued a related staff requirements memorandum 

(SRM) on November 18, 2013. The Commission provides further direction to the staff as 

needed. 

Accomplishments and Ongoing Work 

The NRC staff in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, with the support of the 

Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses, prepared and issued Volumes 2, 3, 4 and 5 of 

the safety evaluation report (SER) over the course of a year, completing the last volumes in 

January 2015. All of these documents are available on the NRC’s website at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1949/. The NRC also distributed 

the documents to the participants in the adjudicatory proceeding and other interested 

stakeholders. 

Completion of the SER cost an estimated $8.3 million. The staff will have a more accurate 

accounting of the SER completion cost after the remaining invoices from the Center for Nuclear 

Waste Regulatory Analyses are paid over the coming months. 

In December 2014, the staff provided the Commission with its assessment of available 

remaining funding from the Nuclear Waste Fund. The assessment (COMSECY-14-0041, 

“Yucca Mountain Project Activities,” dated December 24, 2014), which includes a description of 

proposed work, is available on the NRC’s website at 

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1506/ML15062A495.html. On February 3, 2015, the 

Commission responded to the COMSECY by approving the staff’s recommendations to develop 

an environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement and undertake certain SER “wrap-up” 

activities, including records retention and the development of lessons-learned reports. The 

Commission also approved a path forward for making Licensing Support Network (LSN) 

documents publicly available. The Commission’s staff requirements memorandum (“Staff 

Requirements – COMSECY-14-0041 – Yucca Mountain Project Activities”) is available on the 

NRC’s website at http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1503/ML15034A086.pdf. 

Schedule and Cost for Remaining Activities 

The staff has developed and the Commission has approved a schedule and revised cost 

estimate for completing the EIS supplement that the staff has determined is needed for the 

review of DOE’s application under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Nuclear Waste 
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Policy Act. The staff estimates that it will take a period of 12-15 months at an approximate cost 

of $2 million to complete the EIS supplement (see Table 1 on the following page). In developing 

the supplement, which will be limited to addressing certain topics related to groundwater 

impacts from the proposed repository, the staff will use a technical report developed by DOE 

and available through the NRC’s website at

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1430/ML14303A393.pdf. 

The Commission has also approved the staff’s recommendation to proceed with SER “wrap-up” 

activities. The specific activities are document retention and management, including the 

archiving of documents used in preparing the SER, and the development of lessons-learned 

reports about aspects of the licensing process. The staff estimates that it can complete these 

activities in approximately 1-2 months at a cost of approximately $100,000. 

The Commission has also directed that the LSN document collection be loaded into a publicly 

accessible library in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) 

with enhanced search capability. It is estimated that this task can be completed in 6-8 months 

at a cost of approximately $1.1 million. This activity would not begin until the fall of 2015, after 

verification that sufficient funding is available. 

The staff previously estimated that related activities, such as the work performed by NRC 

attorneys on Federal court litigation following the issuance of the mandamus order, monthly 

reporting, and other support efforts, would require approximately $750,000 over the course of 

the SER project. As shown in Table 1, actual costs for these activities as of February 28, 2015, 

are approximately $763,000. To accommodate the EIS supplement and wrap-up activities 

described in this report, the staff has estimated that an additional $75,000 will be needed for 

these supporting activities. 

The total estimated cost for the work completed as of February 28, 2015, is approximately $9.5 

million. As described above, the estimate for work remaining (EIS supplement, SER wrap-up 

activities, and loading LSN documents) is approximately $3.2 million. 
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Nuclear Waste Fund Expenditures 

During the month of February, the NRC expended $175,569 of Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) 

funds on its actions in direct response to the court’s decision. Cumulative expenditures since 

the August 13, 2013, U.S. Court of Appeals decision are $9,433,754. The August 13, 2013, 

balance of $13,549,315 of unexpended NWF funding, less the $9,433,754, results in a 

remaining unexpended balance of $4,115,561. Total unobligated NWF funds remaining as of 

February 28, 2015, are $3,387,957. The following table provides further details regarding the 

NRC’s expenditure of NWF funds since August 13, 2013. 

Table 1 Status of NRC NWF Funds since the August 13, 2013, Court Decision 

Yucca Mountain Licensing Activities Cost 

Estimate 

February 

Expenditures 

Cumulative 

Expenditures

Completion of the safety evaluation report $8,310,000 $152,478 $8,292,207

Loading of Licensing Support Network 

documents into a nonpublic ADAMS library $350,000 $2,482 $280,152

Loading of Licensing Support Network 

documents into a public ADAMS library $1,100,000 $0 $0

Development of the EIS supplement* $2,000,000 $10,760 $58,187

SER wrap-up activities $100,000 $1,122 $1,122

 Program planning and support 

$825,000

$8,587 $435,456

 Response to the August 30, 2013, 

 Commission order $0 $137,518

 Federal court litigation** $140 $154,635

 Support and advice in NRC proceedings $0 $35,535

Subtotal, other support costs chargeable to 

NWF funds*** $8,727 $763,144

Adjustments to close out contracts funded by 

previous NWF appropriations $0 $38,942

Total $12,685,000 $175,569 $9,433,754

*Updated estimate for NRC staff to complete the EIS supplement, including issuing a draft for public 

 comment, holding public meetings, and completing a final document responding to comments.

**Includes a $59,000 expenditure in May 2014 for the agency’s agreement to settle the Equal Access to 

 Justice Act claim of one of the Aiken County petitioners. On October 23, 2014, the Court of Appeals 

 for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the motion from other parties requesting reimbursement for 

 attorneys’ fees. 

***Updated estimate includes an additional $75,000 for programmatic activities indirectly supporting the 

 EIS supplement, wrap-up activities, or LSN activities. 

The unexpended NWF fund balance of $4,115,561 includes $239,199 of previously 

appropriated NWF funds that remain unexpended but obligated on contracts with the Center for 

Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses. 

The staff has estimated the expenses necessary to complete the SER and related activities 

directed by the Commission. Figure 1 on page 4 shows the cumulative projected and actual 

expenditures. Projected expenditures include cost estimates shown in Table 1. The actual 

cumulative expenditures reflect costs through February 28, 2015, as given in Table 1.
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Figure 1. Nuclear Waste Fund Tracking 

Stakeholder Communications and Interactions 

No stakeholder communications or interactions occurred during February 2015, beyond 

responding to inquiries related to the NRC’s issuance of the SER volume and release of the 

Commission decision on remaining activities.