ENCLOSURE 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monthly Status Report 

Activities Related to the Yucca Mountain Licensing Action 

Report for November 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. 

In December 2014, the staff provided the Commission with its assessment of available 

remaining funding from the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF). 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 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.” This document is available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/sr2184/. The staff announced the start of a 60-day public comment 

period on the draft supplement in the Federal Register on August 21, 2015. In response to 

stakeholder requests, the staff extended the comment period for an additional month, and the 

comment period closed on November 20. The updated Federal Register notice, published on 

September 18, 2015, is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/09/18/2015-
-2- 

23510/department-of-energy-yucca-mountain-nye-county-nevada-correction. The NRC 

received comments on the draft supplement at the public meetings, by mail, and through the 

regulations.gov website. The NRC staff are reviewing the comments and preparing to develop 

responses. Comment summaries and responses will be included in the final supplement as an 

appendix. 

On November 12, the NRC staff held via teleconference the last public meeting for receiving 

comments on the draft supplement. The transcript and summary of this meeting is available on 

the NRC’s website at http://www.nrc.gov/waste/hlw-disposal/key-documents.html. 

Concerning wrap-up activities, the staff continued work on a lessons-learned report. It 

completed other wrap-up work related to the records retention project in April 2015. 

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

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 staff does not anticipate that the 

extension of the public comment period will result in changes to the cost estimate or the 

schedule for the supplement. The staff expects to publish the final supplement in the first half of 

calendar year 2016. 

The Commission has approved the staff’s recommendation to proceed with SER “wrap-up” 

activities. The specific activities are records 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 estimated that these activities would require 

approximately 1–2 months of work, at a cost of approximately $100,000. As noted above, the 

records retention task was completed in April 2015. The remaining “wrap-up” activities will 

proceed in parallel with completion of the EIS supplement and LSN tasks. 

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 late 2015, after 

verification that sufficient funding is available. 

The 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 November, the NRC expended $145,950 of 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 $10,304,562. The August 13, 2013, balance of $13,549,315 

of unexpended NWF funding, less the $10,304,562, results in a remaining unexpended balance 

of $3,244,753. Total unobligated NWF funds remaining as of November 30, 2015, are 

$2,778,234. 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 

November 

Expenditures 

Cumulative 

Expenditures

Completion of the safety evaluation report $8,310,000 $37,206 $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 $0 $0

Development of the EIS supplement $2,000,000 $108,255 $865,032

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

 Program planning and support 

$825,000

$489 $441,901

 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 $489 $769,857

Adjustments to close out contracts funded by 

previous NWF appropriations $0 ($15,793)

Total $12,685,000 $145,950 $10,304,562

*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 $3,244,753 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 November 30, 2015, as given in Table 1. 
-4- 

Figure 1. Nuclear Waste Fund Tracking 

Stakeholder Communications and Interactions 

On November 12, the NRC staff held a public meeting via teleconference to receive comments 

on the draft EIS supplement. Attendees at the public meeting included members of the public; 

representatives of Federal, tribal, State, and local governments; members of the press; and 

members of public advocacy groups.