[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 97 (Thursday, May 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 27608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12736]


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NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD


Board meeting: June 29-30, 1999--Beatty, NV: Review of the 
Department of Energy's (DOE) Analysis of a Design for a Potential 
Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and of Scientific Studies 
Undertaken at the Yucca Mountain Site

    Pursuant to its authority under section 5051 of Public Law 100-203, 
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, the Nuclear Waste 
Technical Review Board (Board) will hold a meeting on Tuesday and 
Wednesday, June 29 and 30, in Beatty, Nevada, to review the U.S. 
Department of Energy's (DOE) analysis comparing possible repository 
designs and to hear reports on the status of scientific studies related 
to the characterization of a potential repository site at Yucca 
Mountain, Nevada. The meeting is open to the public. The Board will 
host an informal gathering from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29, 
for members of the public who would like to meet and talk with Board 
members. Interested parties also are invited to join the Board for 
coffee from 7:15 to 7:55 a.m. on Wednesday, June 30.
    The meeting and associated events will be held at the Beatty 
Community Center, 200 A Avenue South, Beatty, Nevada 89003, (tel) 702-
553-2050. The Board meeting sessions will begin at 9:00 a.m. on June 29 
and at 8:00 a.m. on June 30.
    The meeting sessions on June 29 will focus on the results of the 
DOE's License Application Design Selection project, which compares 
several alternative designs for a potential repository at Yucca 
Mountain. Presentations will include discussions of the criteria and 
assumptions that were used to compare the designs as well as issues 
that could affect repository design such as the use of ventilation to 
cool repository tunnels. Other presentations on that day will include 
updates on the status of the DOE's draft site-suitability criteria and 
of site-characterization efforts at Yucca Mountain.
    The status of scientific studies being conducted at the Yucca 
Mountain site be the subject of the June 30 session. Presentations will 
be made on tests being conducted to obtain information on the 
unsaturated zone, the saturated zone, and the effects of heat on the 
mountain. Also on the agenda for June 30 are updates on the status of 
the Total System Performance Assessment (the analytical tool used to 
predict the performance of the potential repository) and of laboratory 
tests being conducted to determine the corrosion rates of potential 
waste package materials.
    The Board is providing several opportunities for public comment at 
the Beatty meeting. Tie will be set aside in the late morning and at 
the end of the session on June 29 and at the end of the session on June 
30 for comments from the public. Those wanting to speak are encouraged 
to sign the ``Public Comment Register'' at the check-in table. 
Depending on the number of requests, a time limit may be imposed on 
oral statements, but written comments of any length may be submitted 
for inclusion in the record of the meeting. Interested parties also may 
submit questions in writing to the Board. As time permits, written 
questions will be answered during the sessions on both days.
    A detailed agenda will be available approximately one week before 
the meeting. Copies of the agenda can be requested by telephone or 
obtained from the Board's Web site at www.nwitrb.gov. Transcripts of 
this meeting will be available on the Board's Web site, via e-mail, on 
computer disk, and on a library-loan basis in paper format from Davonya 
Barnes, Board staff, beginning on July 19, 1999. For further 
information, contact the NWTRB, Karyn Severson, External Affairs, 2300 
Claredon Boulevard, Suite 1300, Arlington, Virginia 22201-3367; (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. Its purpose is to 
evaluate the technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken 
by the DOE related to managing the disposal of the nation's spent 
nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. In the same legislation, 
Congress directed the DOE to characterize a site at Yucca Mountain, 
Nevada, to determine its suitability as the location of a potential 
repository for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-
level radioactive waste.

    Dated: May 14, 1999.
Michael Carroll,
Deputy Executive Director, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
[FR Doc. 99-12736 Filed 5-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-AM-M