September 28, 2015 

 

MEMORANDUM TO: James Rubenstone, Acting Director 

Yucca Mountain Directorate 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

FROM: Christine Pineda, Project Manager /RA/

 Yucca Mountain Directorate 

 Office of Nuclear Material Safety 

 and Safeguards 

SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF SEPTEMBER 15 PUBLIC MEETING ON THE NRC 

STAFF’S DRAFT SUPPLEMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF 

ENERGY’S EIS FOR THE PROPOSED REPOSITORY AT YUCCA 

MOUNTAIN, NEVADA 

On Tuesday, September 15, 2015, members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

staff held a Category 3 public meeting at the Embassy Suites Convention Center in Las Vegas, 

Nevada. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of the NRC staff’s draft 

supplement to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) environmental impact statement for the 

proposed high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and to accept public 

comments on the document. Participants had an opportunity to ask clarifying questions about 

the NRC’s environmental review process. 

The public meeting began at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time, following a one-hour open house for 

stakeholders to engage with the NRC staff. The meeting began with an introduction of NRC 

staff and a review of meeting ground rules, followed by a presentation on the draft supplement. 

Meeting attendees were then given the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and present their 

comments. Twenty-eight individuals provided comments. The meeting concluded at 

approximately 9:35 p.m. 

The NRC staff's slide presentation is available in the NRC's Agencywide Document 

Management and Access System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML15265A504. The transcript for 

the meeting is available in ADAMS at Accession No. ML15268A399. A video archive of the 

meeting will be available in the near future on the NRC's website at http://video.nrc.gov, under 

“Archived Videos.” These materials, as well as the meeting handouts and posters, are also 

available on the NRC’s website at http://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal/keydocuments.html#er. 

The ADAMS public electronic reading room is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in 

accessing documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC’s Public Document Room 

reference staff at 1-800-397-4737, or via e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. 

Approximately 70 people attended the meeting. Meeting attendees included members of the 

public, members of federal, state, and local governments, members of tribal governments, and 
- 2 - 

members of industry and public advocacy groups. A list of meeting attendees is attached to this 

summary. 

Clarifying questions from the attendees included: whether the NRC has more than one definition 

for a “small” impact that it uses in its National Environmental Policy Act documents; and how or 

why DOE is able to “defer” to the NRC to develop the supplement. 

Topics raised during the comment period included concerns about the NRC’s process or about 

technical aspects of the supplement, concerns about broader polices or processes relevant to 

Yucca Mountain, and other issues directly or indirectly related to Yucca Mountain or the 

proposed repository. Comments about the supplement or about the NRC’s process for 

developing the supplement addressed the following issues: concern about the NRC’s role in 

preparing the supplement and a lack of federal funding for affected local governments to pay for 

a technical review of the draft supplement; concerns about the assumptions and scope of the 

supplement; a request that the NRC staff acknowledge in the final supplement that recent 

developments may result in significant program changes (e.g., the Administration’s 

announcement of plans to dispose of defense waste separately), thus creating a need to update 

DOE’s EISs; the supplement’s reliance on DOE’s model of repository performance; the stability 

of the geology at the proposed repository site; skepticism about DOE’s plan to install titanium 

drip shields in the proposed repository; the potential for the proposed repository to leak 

contaminants into the groundwater moving through Nevada into California; the possible effects 

of groundwater contamination or an accident on the Las Vegas economy; concerns about the 

interaction among contaminants in the groundwater; and concerns about impacts on the 

spiritual and healing qualities of the water used by tribes, as well as other potential impacts on 

tribal lands, populations, and wildlife. Some commenters expressed their view that the 

repository would pose no danger and would not contaminate groundwater. Commenters also 

expressed concern that the NRC staff did not hold public meetings in California. Other 

commenters requested that the public comment period be extended beyond the November 20 

deadline. 

General policy or process comments addressed the following topics or concerns: expressions of 

general opposition to the proposed repository and concern that the project might continue 

despite such opposition; concerns that decisions about the Yucca Mountain site and the 

proposed repository have been politically motivated; recognition that the project cannot move 

forward in light of events that have occurred or decisions made since DOE submitted its license 

application in 2008; concerns about how the U.S. government has affected the people and 

lands of the Western Shoshone Nation; support for choosing a repository site based on 

informed consent; support for recycling, treating, or finding other uses for spent nuclear fuel; 

and support for nuclear power in light of global climate change.

Other commenters compared the history of nuclear activities on the Nevada Test Site to the 

potential for impacts from the proposed repository. Some commenters emphasized that DOE 

does not have the necessary land withdrawal and water rights to construct and operate a 

repository at Yucca Mountain. Additional comments concerned the risks of transporting spent 

nuclear fuel; possible train or truck routes for transporting high-level waste through Nevada; the 

design of spent nuclear fuel storage canisters and the potential for stress corrosion cracking; 

and concern that the NRC has cancelled a study to determine the long-term cancer risk to 

people living near nuclear power plants and the implication for potential NRC regulation of a 

high-level waste repository. 
- 3 - 

To subscribe to our e-mail updates, send an e-mail with the word “Subscribe” in the subject line 

to YMEIS_supplement@nrc.gov. 

Enclosure: Meeting Attendees List 

CONTACT: Christine Pineda, NMSS/YMD 

 (301) 415-6789 
J. Rubenstone - 3 - 

To subscribe to our e-mail updates, send an e-mail with the word “Subscribe” in the subject line 

to YMEIS_supplement@nrc.gov. 

Enclosure: Meeting Attendees List 

CONTACT: Christine Pineda, NMSS/YMD 

 (301) 415-6789 

DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC 

NMSS/YMD Distribution 

CSafford (OGC) 

AGendelman (OGC) 

Miriam Juckett (mjuckett@swri.org) 

ADAMS Accession No.: ML15272A405 

OFFICE NMSS/YMD OGC NMSS/YMD 

NAME CPineda LLondon 

via email

JRubenstone 

via email 

DATE 9/25/2015 9/28/2015 9/28/2015 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
 Enclosure 

List of Attendees 

Public Meeting on the NRC Staff’s Draft Supplement to the 

Department of Energy Environmental Impact Statements for the 

Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada 

September 15, 2015; 7:00 p.m. – 9:36 p.m.

First Name Last Name Organization or Affiliation (if known) 

1 William Boyle U.S. Department of Energy 

2 Dennis Bechtel Citizen 

3 Karen Beckley Nevada Radiation Control Program 

4 Kevin Bell California Energy Commission 

5 Richard Bryan Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects 

6 Forrest Darby Citizen 

7 Jane Feldman Sierra Club 

8 Gerhard Gran Citizen 

9 Ron Green Citizen 

10 Carolyn Goodman Mayor, City of Las Vegas 

11 Jim Hadnot Citizen 

12 Bob Halstead Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects 

13 Justin Harrison Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce 

14 Ace Hoffman Citizen 

15 Sharon Hoffman Citizen 

16 Gary Hollis Citizen 

17 Steven Ireland Las Vegas Paving 

18 Cash Jaszczak Nye County, Nevada 

19 Greg James Inyo County, California 

20 Eddie Jim Pahrump Paiute Tribe 

21 Abigail Johnson Eureka County, Nevada 

22 Joe Kennedy Western Shoshone Nation 

23 Phil Klevorick Clark County Nuclear Waste Division 

24 Mark Krauss Citizen 

25 Leonard Kreisler Citizen 

26 Robert Levich Citizen 

27 Lisa Levine Office of U.S. Representative Dina Titus 

28 Andrew Lingenfelter Office of U.S. Senator Dean Heller 

29 Frank Loscavio Project Resources, Inc. 

30 Webster Mack Citizen 

31 Paul Moradkhan Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce 

32 Kelly Martinez City of Las Vegas 

33 Vivian Mehrhoff Citizen 

34 Rod McCullum Nuclear Energy Institute 

35 Jenna Morton Citizen 

36 Irene Navis Clark County, Nevada 

37 Elia Gay-O’Gara Citizen 
2

First Name Last Name Organization or Affiliation (if known) 

38 John O’Gara Citizen 

39 David Parks Nevada Legislature, Senate 

40 Jacob Paz Citizen 

41 Martha Pendleton Citizen 

42 John Pfabe Citizen 

43 Shannon Raborn Office of U.S. Senator Harry Reid 

44 Kyle Roerink Las Vegas Sun 

45 Keith Rogers Las Vegas Review Journal 

46 Dan Schinhofen Nye County, Nevada 

47 Carrie Stewart Zeus Environmental 

48 Ted Tavcar Citizen 

49 Diane Thornton Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau 

50 Judy Treichel Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force 

51 Dina Titus U.S. House of Representatives, Nevada 1st District 

52 Gil Waldman Citizen 

53 Leonard Willoughby Citizen 

54 Linda Wood Citizen 

55 Virginia Valentine Nevada Resort Association 

56 Holly Woodward Citizen 

57 Ian Zabarte Western Shoshone Nation 

58 Chip Cameron Zero Gravity Group 

59 Jim Colgary Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

60 Miriam Juckett Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses 

61 John Stamatakos Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses 

62 David Decker Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

63 Randy Fedors Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

64 Adam Gendelman Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

65 Tim McCartin Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

66 Dave McIntyre Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

67 David Pickett Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses 

68 Christine Pineda Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

69 James Rubenstone Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

70 Steve Self Nuclear Regulatory Commission