[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 175 (Monday, September 11, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47172-47174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22355]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5294-2]


Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, 
NV

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTIONS: Notice of Availability, Request for Comments, and Announcement 
of Public Meetings.

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SUMMARY: As required under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-
486), the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS) 
has completed a study of the technical bases for environmental 
radiation protection standards for the potential repository for 
radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (hereafter referred to as 
the NAS Report). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
announcing the availability of the NAS Report and requesting comments 
on its contents. Instructions for obtaining the NAS Report and 
submitting comments are given below.
    EPA is also announcing public meetings to inform the public of the 
role which the Agency will play in setting standards for Yucca Mountain 
and to solicit initial comments and concerns.


[[Page 47173]]

DATES: Even though this is an informal comment process, comments will 
be of greatest value if received on or before October 26, 1995 at the 
address given below.

ADDRESSES: To obtain the NAS Report. The entire NAS Report may be 
purchased from the National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW., 
Box 285, Washington, DC 20055 or by calling 800-624-6242 or 202-334-
3313. Also, the Agency will make photocopies of the Executive Summary 
available in response to written requests sent to NAS Report Executive 
Summary, Radioactive Waste Management Branch (6602J), Office of 
Radiation and Indoor Air, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M 
St. SW., Washington, DC 20460-0001 or by calling 202-233-9310 or 800-
331-9477 and leaving your name and address. Finally, the text of the 
NAS Report will be available via computer on EPA's Technology Transfer 
Network; for access: call 919-541-5742 (modems up to 14,400 bps) or via 
Internet at TELNET ttnbbs.rtpnc.epa.gov.
    A copy of the NAS Report is in both dockets which have been 
established for this rulemaking. One docket, designated Docket A-95-12, 
is located in Room 1500 (ground level inside of Waterside Mall near the 
Washington Information Center), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
401 M St. SW., Washington, DC. The docket may be inspected between 8:30 
a.m. and 12 noon and between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. As 
provided in 40 CFR Part 2, a reasonable fee may be charged for 
photocopying docket materials. This other docket is in the Government 
Publications Department, Dickinson Library, University of Nevada-Las 
Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada.
    To send comments. To comment upon the contents of the NAS Report, 
write to NAS Report Comments, Radioactive Waste Management Branch 
(6602J), Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M St. SW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ray Clark, Radioactive Waste 
Management Branch (6602J), Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St. SW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone 202-233-9310.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA, 
Pub. L. 97-425) established the current national program for the 
disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste 
(HLW). In 1985, the Agency established generic standards, i.e., for 
applicable activities in the U.S., for the management and disposal of 
SNF and HLW in 40 CFR part 191. (50 FR 38066). The NWPA was amended by 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 which did not affect 
EPA's authority or responsibility but did narrow the characterization 
of potential disposal sites for SNF and HLW to Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
    In October 1992, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal 
Act (WIPP LWA, Pub. L. 102-579) and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 
(EnPA, Pub. L. 102-486) were enacted. The WIPP LWA exempted the 
potential Yucca Mountain disposal system from coverage under 40 CFR 
part 191. However, the EnPA assigned the authority and responsibility 
to establish site-specific environmental radiation protection standards 
for Yucca Mountain. It also required EPA to contract with the NAS to 
provide findings and recommendations on the technical bases of the 
Yucca Mountain standards prior to writing those standards. The NAS 
study began in February 1993 and was presented to the Agency on August 
1, 1995.
    ``(A) Whether a health-based standard based upon doses to 
individual members of the public from releases to the accessible 
environment (as that term is defined in the regulations contained in 
subpart B of part 191 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, as in 
effect on November 18, 1985) will provide a reasonable standard for 
protection of the health and safety of the general public;
    (B) Whether it is reasonable to assume that a system for post-
closure oversight of the repository can be developed, based upon active 
institutional controls, that will prevent an unreasonable risk of 
breaching the repository's engineered or geologic barriers or 
increasing the exposure of individual members of the public to 
radiation beyond allowable limits; and
    (C) Whether it is possible to make scientifically supportable 
predictions of the probability that the repository's engineered or 
geologic barriers will be breached as a result of human intrusion over 
a period of 10,000 years.''

Recommendations and Conclusions of the NAS

    The EPA will now begin establishing site-specific standards for 
Yucca Mountain taking into account the recommendations and conclusions 
of the NAS. In the Executive Summary of their report, the NAS 
recommended:
    (a) The use of a standard that sets a limit on the risk to 
individuals of adverse health effects from releases from the 
repository;
    (b) That compliance assessment be conducted for the time when the 
greatest risk occurs, within the limits imposed by long-term stability 
of the geologic environment;
    (a) The use of a standard that sets a limit on the risk to 
individuals of adverse health effects from releases from the 
repository;
    (b) That compliance assessment be conducted for the time when the 
greatest risk occurs, within the limits imposed by long-term stability 
of the geologic environment;
    (c) Against a risk-based calculation of the adverse effect of human 
intrusion into the repository;
    (d) That the consequences of an intrusion be calculated to assess 
the resilience of the repository to human intrusion;
    (e) That resolution of policy issues be done through a rulemaking 
process that allows opportunity for wide-ranging input from all 
interested parties;
    (f) That the critical-group approach be used in the Yucca Mountain 
standards; and,
    (g) That EPA require that the estimated risk calculated from the 
assumed intrusion scenario be no greater than the risk limit adopted 
for the undisturbed-repository case because a repository that is 
suitable for safe long-term disposal should be able to continue to 
provide acceptable waste isolation after some type of intrusion.
    The NAS also reached several conclusions:
    (a) An individual-risk standard would protect public health, given 
the particular characteristics of the site, provided that policy makers 
and the public are prepared to accept that very low radiation doses 
pose a negligibly small risk;
    (b) The physical and geologic processes are sufficiently 
quantifiable and the related uncertainties sufficiently boundable that 
performance can be assessed over time frames during which the geologic 
system is relatively stable or varies in a boundable manner;
    (c) It is not possible to predict, on the basis of scientific 
analyses, the societal factors for an exposure scenario. Specifying 
exposure scenarios therefore requires a policy decision that is 
appropriately made in a rulemaking process conducted by EPA;
    (d) With respect to the second question of Section 801, it is not 
reasonable to assume that a system for post-closure oversight of the 
repository can be developed, based on active institutional controls, 
that will prevent an unreasonable risk of breaching the repository's 
engineered barriers or increasing the exposure of individual 

[[Page 47174]]
members of the public to radiation beyond allowable limits;
    (e) With respect to the third question in Section 801, it is not 
possible to make scientifically supportable predictions of the 
probability that a repository's engineered or geologic barriers will be 
breached as a result of human intrusion over a period of 10,000 years; 
and,
    (f) There is no scientific basis for incorporating the ALARA [as 
low as reasonably achievable] principle into the EPA standards or 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing regulations for the repository.

Request for Comments on the NAS Report

    As the first step in the public process, EPA is requesting comments 
on the NAS Report. While comments will be accepted on any part of the 
report, the Agency has several questions upon which it is particularly 
requesting comments. First, did the report sufficiently answer the 
questions found in the Act? Second, was there sufficient rationale to 
support the findings and conclusions? Third, do provisions other than 
those found in the findings and conclusions need to be included in the 
EPA standards? Fourth, are any of the findings or conclusions which are 
inappropriate or inaccurate regarding Yucca Mountain? Fifth, would the 
cost of imposing the findings and recommendations be justifiable when 
compared with the benefits provided?

Public Meetings

    The second step in the standards-setting process will be to hold a 
series of public meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to inform 
the public of the role of the Environmental Protection Agency including 
the extent and limitations of its authority. They will also be used to 
receive early comments from and discuss issues with the public.
    Public meetings will be held: (a) from 1:00-5:00 p.m. and 6:30-9:30 
p.m. on September 20, 1995 in the Multi-Purpose Building, 821 East Farm 
Road in Amargosa Valley, Nevada (call Stan Sims at 702-727-7727 for 
directions); (b) from 1:00-5:00 p.m. and 6:30-9:30 p.m. on September 
21, 1995 in Wright Hall, Room 103, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 4505 
Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas, Nevada (see the campus map on page 57 of 
the Las Vegas telephone directory for directions); and from 9:00 a.m.-
noon and 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on September 27, 1995 in the National 
Gallery Ballroom, Radisson Barcelo Hotel, 2121 P St., NW, in 
Washington, DC (call 202-293-3100 for directions).

    Dated: September 5, 1995.
Mary Nichols,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 95-22355 Filed 9-8-95; 8:45 am]
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