[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 74 (Friday, April 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19276-19277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10220]


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NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD


Board Workshop; May 18-19, 1998--Falls Church, Virginia; Waste 
Package Concepts and Identification of Research Needs

    Pursuant to its authority under section 5051 of Pub. L. 100-203, 
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, the Nuclear Waste 
Technical Review Board (Board) will sponsor a workshop May 18-19, 1998, 
beginning at 8:30 a.m. both days. The workshop, which is open to the 
public, will use a facilitated, brainstorming approach that should 
allow participants to explore and discuss waste package concepts for 
direct disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel in a hypothetical 
repository designed for Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
    The purpose of the workshop is to develop a firm technical basis 
for the Board to review and evaluate the scientific and technical 
merits of any waste package designs that may arise from the Department 
of Energy's program for managing the geologic disposal of commercial 
spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.
    The workshop will be held at the Doubletree Hotel at Tysons Corner, 
7801 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia; Tel (703) 893-1340; Fax 
(703) 749-8528. Reservations for accommodations should be made by April 
29, 1998. Please mention that you are attending the Nuclear Waste 
Technical Review Board's workshop to receive the preferred rate.
    The format of the workshop will be a roundtable discussion among 
invited panelists and members of the Board and its staff, assisted by 
an impartial facilitator. Beginning with several short

[[Page 19277]]

presentations describing the current Department of Energy repository 
and waste package designs, the workshop will move to discussion by the 
participants to alternative design concepts that are compatible with 
the Department of Energy's current repository design for Yucca 
Mountain, or other repository designs that reasonably could be 
implemented there. The discussion also will include research and 
development that might be required to support each design concept.
    Time will be set aside during the workshop for technical comments 
from the public that pertain to the discussion. Depending on the number 
of people wanting to make comments, time limits may have to be set. 
Written comments of any length may be submitted for the record. Those 
wanting to make comments will be asked to sign up at the registration 
table.
    Transcripts of this meeting will be available on computer disk, via 
e-mail, or on a library-loan basis in paper format from Davonya Barnes, 
Board staff, beginning June 30, 1998. For further information, contact 
Frank Randall, External Affairs, 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1300, 
Arlington, Virginia 22201; (tel) 703-235-4473; (fax) 703-235-4495; (e-
mail) [email protected].
    The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board was created by Congress in 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 to evaluate the 
technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by the DOE 
in its program to manage the disposal of the nation's high-level 
radioactive waste and commercial spent nuclear fuel. In that same 
legislation, Congress directed the DOE to characterize a site at Yucca 
Mountain in Nevada for its suitability as a potential location for a 
permanent repository for disposing of that waste.

    Dated: April 14, 1998.
William Barnard,
Executive Director, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
[FR Doc. 98-10220 Filed 4-16-98; 8:45 am]
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