[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 149 (Thursday, August 4, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19062]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 4, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management

 

Process for Evaluating the Suitability of the Yucca Mountain Site 
for Development as a Repository for High-Level Radioactive Waste and 
Spent Nuclear Fuel

AGENCY: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Through this Notice, the Department of Energy makes four 
announcements regarding the process for evaluating the suitability of 
the Yucca Mountain site for development as a repository for high-level 
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. 1) The Department announces 
the availability of Summary Reports of the May 21, 1994 stakeholder 
meeting held in Las Vegas, Nevada. 2) The Department announces its 
decision to use the Siting Guidelines (10 CFR Part 960) as they 
currently exist. 3) The Department announces the availability of a 
draft description of the process for evaluating the suitability of the 
Yucca Mountain site for public comment. 4) The Department announces 
stakeholder meetings to elicit the views of the general public on the 
proposed process and particularly the proposed opportunities for 
external involvement. The Department invites interested parties to 
provide written comments during the term specified in this Notice.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft Summary Reports of the May 21, 
1994 stakeholder meeting and the draft description of the proposed 
process are due on or before October 3, 1994. The meetings will be held 
on August 27, 1994 from 9 am to 5 pm (PDT) at the Stardust Hotel in Las 
Vegas, Nevada, and on August 30, 1994 from 9 am to 5 pm (EDT) at the 
Renaissance Hotel, in Washington, DC.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: Dr. Jane R. 
Summerson, U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site 
Characterization Office, 101 Convention Center Drive, Las Vegas, NV 
89109, (702) 794-5317 (Phone), (702) 794-7907 (Fax).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND COPY OF DRAFT PROCESS CONTACT: Dr. Jane R. 
Summerson, U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site 
Characterization Office, 101 Convention Center Drive, Las Vegas, NV 
89109, (702) 794-5317 (Phone), (702) 794-7907 (Fax).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Summary Reports

    The Department of Energy (Department) held a public meeting on May 
21, 1994, in Las Vegas, Nevada (59FR19680). The purposes of the meeting 
were to follow-up on a previous stakeholder meeting held in August 
1993; to update stakeholders on Yucca Mountain site characterization 
activities; and to provide an opportunity to discuss the development of 
a process to evaluate the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site for 
development as a repository. Through this Notice, the Department 
announces that the Summary Reports of the meeting are available upon 
request.

II. Decision on the Use of 10 CFR Part 960

    Issued in 1984, DOE's 10 CFR Part 960 siting guidelines cover all 
phases of the siting process including the screening and comparison of 
several sites in order to select three for detailed characterization as 
potential repository sites. The Department has considered a range of 
options concerning the application of the guidelines, from revising 
them through the rulemaking process to simply continuing to use them in 
their present form and has found that the guidelines are applicable to 
the site suitability process. The Department has decided that it will 
not amend the siting guidelines. Therefore, in making suitability 
decisions that are required at this stage of the siting process, the 
Department will use the guidelines as they are currently written. Their 
use, however, will be subject to the programmatic changes and 
reconfiguration provided in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 
1987. Because the Amendments Act eliminated all of the pre-
characterization stages by requiring the Secretary to proceed with site 
characterization at Yucca Mountain and to cease investigation of all 
other potential sites for the first repository, comparative evaluation 
is no longer relevant. Accordingly, the Program will not utilize the 
comparative portions of the guidelines for purposes of the suitability 
assessment of the Yucca Mountain site. This means that the Program will 
not make specific evaluations of the favorable and potentially adverse 
conditions since these tests are primarily for use in comparing sites.

III. Availability of the draft description of the process for 
evaluating the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site

    The Department is developing a process for evaluating the 
suitability of the Yucca Mountain Site for a repository for high-level 
radioactive waste and spent fuel. Through this Notice, the Department 
announces that a draft description of the proposed process is available 
for public comment. Written comments on the draft description of the 
proposed process are due as set forth near the beginning of this 
notice.

IV. Stakeholder Meetings

    As part of the comment process discussed above, two day-long public 
meetings have been scheduled as set forth near the beginning of this 
notice. The meeting will provide an opportunity for representatives 
from the DOE to explain the draft description of the process and to 
receive the views and comments of the public on the proposed process 
and, in particular, opportunities for public involvement.

    Issued in Washington, DC on July 29, 1994.
Daniel A. Dreyfus,
Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.
[FR Doc. 94-19062 Filed 8-3-94; 8:45 am]
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