ENCLOSURE 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monthly Status Report 

Activities Related to the Yucca Mountain Licensing Action 

Report for March 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 approximately $8,311,000. 

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. 

The staff has begun work on the EIS supplement and on the SER wrap-up activities. The staff 

announced its intention to develop the supplement in the Federal Register on March 12, 2015. 

The Federal Register notice is available at 80 FR 13029, and can be accessed at 

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-03-12/pdf/2015-05578.pdf. In developing the 

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

from the proposed repository, the staff will consider a technical report developed by DOE and 

available through the NRC’s website at

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1430/ML14303A393.pdf. 
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Schedule and Cost for Remaining Activities 

The Commission has approved the staff’s 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 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 below). 

The Commission has 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. 

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, cost 

approximately $766,000 as of March 31, 2015. The staff stated in the February monthly status 

report that it had added $75,000 to the original estimate of $750,000. The current estimate for 

these activities, as shown in Table 1, is $825,000. 

The total estimated cost for the work completed as of March 31, 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 March, the NRC expended $44,292 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 $9,478,046. The August 13, 2013, 

balance of $13,549,315 of unexpended NWF funding, less the $9,478,046, results in a 

remaining unexpended balance of $4,071,269. Total unobligated NWF funds remaining as of 

March 31, 2015, are $2,940,133. 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 

March 

Expenditures 

Cumulative 

Expenditures

Completion of the safety evaluation report $8,310,000 $18,950 $8,311,157

Loading of Licensing Support Network 

documents into a nonpublic ADAMS library* $350,000 ($2,482) $277,670

Loading of Licensing Support Network 

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

Development of the EIS supplement** $2,000,000 $18,529 $76,716

SER wrap-up activities $100,000 $6,156 $7,278

 Program planning and support 

$825,000

$2,893 $438,349

 Response to the August 30, 2013, 

 Commission order $0 $137,518

 Federal court litigation*** $246 $154,881

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

Subtotal, other support costs chargeable to 

NWF funds**** $3,139 $766,283

Adjustments to close out contracts funded by 

previous NWF appropriations $0 $38,942

Total $12,685,000 $44,292 $9,478,046

*During March, the fund classifications for a contract expenditure made in a previous month were 

 adjusted to reflect the proper funding sources, reducing NWF expenditures by $2,482. 

**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 $4,071,269 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 
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expenditures. Projected expenditures include cost estimates shown in Table 1. The actual 

cumulative expenditures reflect costs through March 31, 2015, as given in Table 1. 

Figure 1. Nuclear Waste Fund Tracking 

Stakeholder Communications and Interactions 

The staff announced its intention to develop the EIS supplement in the Federal Register on 

March 12, 2015. The Federal Register notice is available at 80 FR 13029, and can be accessed 

at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-03-12/pdf/2015-05578.pdf. The staff also issued a 

press release about the notice, and emailed this information to the hearing participants and 

other stakeholders. 

In addition, the staff has updated the NRC’s public website concerning NRC activities related to 

the Yucca Mountain repository licensing process. The webpage is available at 

http://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal.html. In the coming months, the staff will continue to 

provide updates on this site related to the EIS supplement process.