ENCLOSURE 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monthly Status Report 

Activities Related to the Yucca Mountain Licensing Action 

Report for December 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 $8,365,000. 

On February 3, 2015, the Commission directed the staff 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 SRM (“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. 

On August 13, 2015, the staff published its draft NUREG-2184, “Supplement to the 

U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the 

Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, 

Nye County, Nevada.” The NRC received comments on the draft supplement at the public 

meetings, by mail, and through the regulations.gov website. The NRC staff is reviewing the 

comments and preparing to develop responses. Comment summaries and responses will be 

included in the final supplement as an appendix. Summaries, transcripts, and other materials 

from the five public meetings held to receive comments on the draft document are available at 

http://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal/key-documents.html#er. 
-2- 

On December 1, 2015, the Office of the Secretary and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

Panel, as the Commission-appointed coordinators for the project to load the LSN document 

collection into a publicly accessible library in the Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS), informed the Commission that sufficient funds remain to begin 

that work. A project kick-off meeting was held on December 9, 2015, and work began shortly 

thereafter. 

Schedule and Cost for Activities Directed in SRM of February 3, 2015 

The Commission 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 staff expects to publish the final supplement in the 

first half of calendar year 2016. 

The staff completed wrap-up work related to records retention in April 2015, including the 

archiving of documents used in preparing the SER. The staff has begun the development of a 

lessons-learned report about aspects of the licensing process, which is scheduled to be 

completed in parallel with the EIS supplement. The staff estimated that these activities would 

cost approximately $100,000. 

The Commission also directed that following the close of the public comment period for the draft 

EIS supplement and upon verification that sufficient funding is available, the LSN document 

collection be loaded into a publicly accessible ADAMS library with enhanced search capability. 

It is estimated that this task can be completed by the end of fiscal year 2016 at a cost of 

approximately $1.1 million. 

The total estimate to complete the work directed in the February 3, 2015, SRM (EIS 

supplement, SER wrap-up activities, and loading LSN documents) is approximately $3.2 million. 
-3- 

Nuclear Waste Fund Expenditures

During the month of December, the NRC expended $58,712 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 $10,363,274. The August 13, 2013, 

balance of $13,549,315 of unexpended NWF funding, less the $10,363,274, results in a 

remaining unexpended balance of $3,186,041. Total unobligated NWF funds remaining as of 

December 31, 2015, are $1,848,195. 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 

December 

Expenditures 

Cumulative 

Expenditures

Completion of the SER $8,310,000 $0 $8,364,877

Loading of Licensing Support Network 

documents into a nonpublic ADAMS library $350,000 $0 $277,670

Loading of Licensing Support Network 

documents into a public ADAMS library $1,100,000 $2,704 $2,704

Development of the EIS supplement $2,000,000 $55,102 $920,134

SER wrap-up activities $100,000 $0 $42,919

 Program planning and support 

$825,000

$906 $442,807

 Response to the August 30, 2013, 

 Commission order $0 $137,518

 Federal court litigation* $0 $154,903

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

Subtotal, other support costs chargeable to 

NWF funds $906 $770,763

Adjustments to close out contracts funded by 

previous NWF appropriations $0 ($15,793)

Total $12,685,000 $58,712 $10,363,274

*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. 

The unexpended NWF fund balance of $3,186,041 includes $293,934 of previously 

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

Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses. 

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 December 31, 2015, as given in Table 1. 
-4- 

Figure 1. Nuclear Waste Fund Tracking

Stakeholder Communications and Interactions 

No stakeholder communications or interactions occurred during December 2015, as the public 

comment period closed in November 2015. The staff began developing the final EIS 

supplement following the end of the comment period.