Enclosure 

Monthly Status Report to Congress 

Activities Related to the Yucca Mountain Licensing Action 

Report November 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. 

Activities 

During the month of November, the Commission staff continued to provide legal advice to the 

Commission concerning the preparation of an adjudicatory decision identifying a path forward 

for the licensing process. On November 18, 2013, the Commission1

 issued a Staff 

Requirements Memorandum and a Memorandum and Order, which set a course of action for 

the Yucca Mountain licensing process, consistent with the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals 

for the District of Columbia Circuit in In re Aiken County, and with the resources available. The 

Order directed the NRC staff to complete and issue the Safety Evaluation Report (SER) 

associated with the construction authorization application and requested that the U.S. 

Department of Energy prepare the supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) that the 

NRC staff has determined is needed for purposes of the review of this application under the 

National Environmental Policy Act. The Order continued to hold the adjudication in abeyance. 

The Order declined to direct the staff to reconstitute the Licensing Support Network (LSN) but 

did direct that all documents be loaded into the non-public version of the Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) (our electronic database) promptly and 

acknowledged that documents used as references in the SER and EIS supplement will be made 

publicly available. Finally, the Order granted in part and denied in part requests for relief filed by 

Nye County and the State of Nevada, and declined to decide at this time the Timbisha 

 

 1 Commissioner Apostolakis did not participate in this matter. 
- 2 - 

 

Shoshone Tribal Council’s renewed motion for recognition. The staff is working to implement 

the Commission’s direction with a project plan due in December 2013. 

Nuclear Waste Fund Expenditures 

During this period, the NRC incurred additional obligations of $6,821 of Nuclear Waste Funds 

on its actions in direct response to the court’s decision, including $3,990 for responding to the 

Commission’s August 30, 2013, Order and $2,831 for Federal Court litigations costs. 

Cumulative obligations since the August 13, 2013, U.S. Court of Appeals decision are $151,226, 

including $125,419 for responding to the Commission’s August 30, 2013, Order and $25,807 for 

Federal Court litigations costs. Total unobligated Nuclear Waste Funds remaining as of 

November 30, 2013, are $10,904,799. 

Beginning with the December report, the NRC will separately identify obligations incurred for 

completion of the SER, loading of LSN documents into ADAMS, adoption of the supplemental 

EIS, and overall project management. 

As noted in last month’s report, $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). The NRC continues to take actions to deobligate these 

funds.