[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44557-44558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21088]


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NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD


Board Meeting: September 14-15, 1999--Arlington, Virginia: Review 
of the Department of Energy's Safety Strategy 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, September 14 and 15, in Alexandria, Virginia, to review the 
U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) waste isolation and containment 
strategy for a potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The 
meeting will be open to the public.
    The meeting will be held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 901 North 
Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-1501. The telephone number 
is 703-683-6000. The Board meeting sessions will begin at 9 a.m. on 
both days.
    On the morning of September 14, the DOE will update the Board on 
events that have taken place recently within the civilian radioactive 
waste

[[Page 44558]]

management program and the Yucca Mountain project. Presentations will 
be on important issues related to the performance of a potential 
repository including the effects of waste heat on repository behavior, 
the significance of chlorine-36 isotopes found in exploratory tunnels, 
the characteristics and processes of the saturated zone that will 
affect radionuclide releases, and results from corrosion tests of waste 
package materials. An update on repository design also will be 
presented.
    In the afternoon, the DOE will make a series of presentations on 
the latest version of its repository safety strategy. Included will be 
an analysis of the ``defense in depth'' envisioned for the repository 
system and identification of key research priorities that the project 
will address over the next 18 months.
    The morning session on September 15 will focus on the DOE's work to 
revise its total system performance assessment (TSPA) and on its use of 
multiple lines of evidence to develop a strategy for demonstrating the 
safety of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. Included among the 
presentations will be a discussion of the treatment of uncertainty in 
TSPA, especially the use of bounding analyses. The use of natural 
analogs, or naturally occurring phenomenon that could increase 
understanding of conditions at Yucca Mountain, also will be discussed. 
The afternoon session will be devoted to presentations on model 
validation by the DOE and a subsequent roundtable discussion on this 
issue.
    The meeting will be open to the public on both days. Time for 
public comment will be set aside at approximately 11:30 a.m. on both 
days and at the end of the afternoon session (approximately 4:30 p.m.) 
on September 14. 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.
    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.nwtrb.gov. Transcripts of the 
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 October 18, 1999. For further 
information, contact Karyn Severson, Director of External Affairs, 
NWTRB, at 2300 Clarendon 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: August 10, 1999.
William D. Barnard,
Executive Director, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
[FR Doc. 99-21088 Filed 8-13-99; 8:45 am]
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