Monthly Status Report to Congress 

Activities Related to the Yucca Mountain Licensing Action 

Report for the Period August 13, 2013–September 30, 2013 

Background 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent regulatory agency whose 

mission is to license and regulate the Nation’s civilian use of radioactive materials, to protect 

public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the 

environment. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is 

responsible for developing and submitting to the NRC a license application for the construction 

of a geologic repository for high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, in Nye County, Nevada. The 

NRC is responsible for reviewing the application and determining whether to issue a 

construction authorization to the DOE. The DOE submitted its license application to the NRC 

on June 3, 2008, and the NRC accepted the application for review on September 8, 2008. The 

focus of the NRC’s review is on whether the DOE has demonstrated that it can construct and 

operate a repository safely and in compliance with NRC regulations. 

On March 3, 2010, the DOE filed a motion to withdraw its license application, which the Atomic 

Safety and Licensing Board denied on June 29, 2010. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

suspended the adjudicatory proceeding on September 30, 2011. 

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

issued its decision directing the NRC to “promptly continue with the legally mandated licensing 

process” for the DOE’s application to construct a geologic repository for high-level waste at 

Yucca Mountain. On September 10, 2013, Chairman Macfarlane testified before the House 

Environment and the Economy Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee that the 

NRC promptly began taking steps to comply with the court’s direction following the issuance of 

the decision. 

Activities Completed 

On August 30, 2013, the Commission issued an Order inviting participants to the high-level 

waste repository adjudicatory proceeding to provide the Commission with their views on how the 

NRC should continue with the licensing process. The responses from the participants, including 

the NRC staff, were filed by September 30, 2013. The Commission also directed the NRC staff 

to gather pertinent cost estimate information during this same period. The costs to conduct 

these activities were not assessed against the Nuclear Waste Fund. 

Activities Underway 

After reviewing the input from the participants to the proceeding and informed by the cost and 

schedule estimates provided by the NRC staff, the Commission will deliberate and determine 

the various activities that might compose the agency’s response to the court’s decision, 

including activities related to: 

• Completion of the Safety Evaluation Report; 

• Completion of the supplement to the Yucca Mountain Environmental Impact Statement; 

Enclosure 
 

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• Adjudication; 

• Reconstituting the Licensing Support Network; and 

• Potential restart of external litigation against the NRC. 

The cost to conduct this next phase of the Commission’s consideration of the response to the 

court’s order will be charged to the Nuclear Waste Fund. 

Nuclear Waste Fund Expenditures 

During this period, the NRC spent $51,507 of Nuclear Waste Funds on its actions in direct 

response to the court’s decision. Total unobligated Nuclear Waste Funds remaining as of 

September 30, 2013, are $11,004,517. 

An additional $2,493,290 of previously appropriated Nuclear Waste Funds remain unexpended 

but obligated on contracts with the NRC-sponsored Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory 

Analyses (CNWRA). Closeout audits of CNWRA contracts were already underway when the 

court’s decision was issued, but the timing of completion of these audits by the Defense 

Contract Audit Agency is uncertain. If the closeout audits are completed in a timely manner, 

these Nuclear Waste Funds could be made available for ongoing NRC activities in response to 

the court’s decision. The total amount will be reduced, however, by the assessment of any final 

contract closeout costs. The NRC will continue to keep the Committee apprised of the status of 

any deobligation of these funds in future status reports.