[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 486-487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-88]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability; Viability Assessment of a Repository at 
Yucca Mountain

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a 
DOE report to Congress entitled Viability Assessment of a Repository at 
Yucca Mountain. The Viability Assessment is essentially a technical 
status report of the ongoing DOE scientific investigations concerning 
the potential for locating a geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel 
and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. It brings together data 
drawn from 15 years of scientific investigation and design work at 
Yucca Mountain and identifies what the DOE has learned about the site 
and what it believes are the critical areas for additional 
investigation. Submission of this report to the President and the 
Congress was directed in the Fiscal Year 1997 Energy and Water 
Development Appropriations Act.

ADDRESSES: Any written requests for information or copies of the 
Viability Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain should be 
directed to:
    Allen Benson,
    Director, Institutional Affairs,
    Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, M/S 523,
    U.S. Department of Energy, 1261 Town Center Drive,
    Las Vegas, NV 89134.
    The Viability Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain is 
available in both printed and CD ROM formats. Persons wishing to 
request copies or receive information by telephone should call 1-800-
225-6972. Electronic requests for copies may be made on the Internet 
at: <http://www.ymp.gov/learn/order.htm. Electronic copies of the 
Viability Assessment or DOE supporting documents are available for 
viewing and downloading on the Internet at <http://www.ymp.gov/va.htm. 
Information to assist in locating non-DOE reference documents may also 
be obtained at that address. The Viability Assessment of a Repository 
at Yucca Mountain may also be obtained at DOE Reading Rooms located at:

U.S. Department of Energy, 1141 S. Highway 160 No. 3, Pahrump, NV 
89048, 702-727-0896
U.S. Department of Energy, 100 North E Avenue & State Route 374, 
Beatty, NV 89003, 702-553-2130
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave, SW, Room 1E-190, 
Washington, DC 20585 (Document viewing only, for copies call 1-800-225-
6972.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the 
Viability Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain please contact: 
Allen Benson, Director of Institutional Affairs, Yucca Mountain Site 
Characterization Office, at the above address, by telephone at 1-800-
225-6972, or by e-mail through our Website at http://www.ymp.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Viability Assessment summarizes a large technical body of work 
from field investigations, laboratory tests, models, analyses, and 
engineering that is described in cited references. The Viability 
Assessment identifies the uncertainties relevant to the technical 
defensibility of the DOE analyses and designs, the approach to managing 
these uncertainties, the status of work toward the site recommendation 
and license application, plans for the remaining work, and the 
estimated costs of completing a license application and constructing 
and operating a repository.
    The Viability Assessment is not intended to be a decision document, 
but rather, was developed as a program management tool and milestone. 
The Viability Assessment in no way constrains further DOE 
investigations. If new or different issues are identified in response 
to the Viability Assessment that are important to the evaluation of the 
suitability of the site, DOE will undertake any necessary investigation 
into those issues.

The Viability Assessment

    In the Fiscal Year 1997 Energy and Water Development Appropriations 
Act Congress required the DOE to produce a Viability Assessment of the 
work being done to characterize the site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, 
approximately 100 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada. Congress stipulated 
that the Viability Assessment include:

    ``(1) the preliminary design concept for the critical elements 
for the repository and waste package;
    (2) a total system performance assessment, based upon the design 
concept and the

[[Page 487]]

scientific data and analysis available by September 30, 1998, 
describing the probable behavior of the repository in the Yucca 
Mountain geological setting relative to the overall system 
performance standards;
    (3) a plan and cost estimate for the remaining work required to 
complete a license application; and
    (4) an estimate of the costs to construct and operate the 
repository in accordance with the design concept.'' (Public Law 104-
206-September 30, 1996)

    The Viability Assessment is presented in five volumes. Volume 1 
provides an introduction to the assessment and a description of site 
characteristics. This includes the purpose and scope of the assessment; 
a description of the radioactive waste forms destined for geologic 
disposal; discussion of the technical challenges posed by permanent 
geologic disposal; a historical perspective of the disposal program; 
and, a description of the site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
    Volume 2 presents a preliminary design concept for the repository 
and waste package. The discussion and descriptions include: design 
process and design bases; the preliminary design concept for repository 
surface and subsurface facilities, and the waste package with 
associated engineered barriers; concepts for construction, operation, 
monitoring, and closure of a repository; design flexibility 
considerations; and, major design alternatives.
    Volume 3 is a total system performance assessment of a repository 
at Yucca Mountain. The analyses and discussion include: a definition of 
total system performance assessment; the objectives, approach, 
methodology and base case results of the performance assessment; 
description of the development of the components of the technical model 
used; and, sensitivity analyses of the components of the performance 
assessment.
    Volume 4 is the license application plan and cost for licensing a 
repository at Yucca Mountain. This includes: a rationale for the 
technical work needed to complete the license application; a 
description of technical work plans for further site investigations, 
design and performance assessment analyses; and, a discussion of 
statutory, regulatory and support activities needed to complete a 
license application process. In addition, the costs and schedule to 
complete the work are described.
    Volume 5 is a description of the costs to construct and operate a 
repository at Yucca Mountain. This volume includes discussion and 
tables on: cost elements; project phases; major assumptions; and an 
integrated cost summary.
    An Overview will accompany the Viability Assessment. The Overview 
is intended to summarize the over 1,400 pages of material contained in 
the Viability Assessment in a less technical format.
    All five volumes contain citations to references used to prepare 
the document. These references, or supporting documents, may be found 
through the following Internet address <http://www.ymp.gov/va.htm. 
Documents which are DOE products are available electronically on the 
Internet home page. Other reference documents are listed with 
information intended to assist researchers in finding the documents 
through a public library.
    Based on the results of the Viability Assessment, the Department 
believes that scientific and technical work at Yucca Mountain should 
proceed. The Viability Assessment is not a decision on Yucca Mountain. 
It will, however, provide a road map for future work necessary to 
support a decision in 2001 on whether to recommend the site to the 
President for development as a repository.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. December 21, 1998.
Lake H. Barrett,
Acting Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.
[FR Doc. 99-88 Filed 1-4-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P