[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41799-41800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3857]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting

    The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) will hold its 162nd 
meeting on August 2-4, 2005, Room T-2B3, Two White Flint North, 11545 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
    The schedule for this meeting is as follows:

Tuesday, August 2, 2005

    The Committee will conduct a 2-day working group meeting on Waste 
Determinations.
    8:30 a.m.-11:25 a.m. Session 1: (Open)--This session will provide a 
background for waste determinations. The ACNW Moderator will discuss 
the purpose of the Working Group meeting and provide an overview of the 
meeting sessions. Department of Energy (DOE) staff will provide an 
overview of DOE's current and planned management of tank waste at four 
tank sites, including waste handling practices, waste streams likely to 
require waste determinations and their characteristics. NRC staff will 
provide an overview of NRC's

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involvement in waste determination evaluations to date, a summary of 
new waste determination provisions in the National Defense 
Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2005, and anticipated waste determination 
activities by the NRC.
    11:25 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Session 2: (Open)--Invited experts will 
address state-of-the-art and R&D technology for waste retrieval 
including removal of common target radionuclides, and technology for 
characterizing tank heels. In addition, a historical perspective on the 
definition of ``highly radioactive waste'' in the regulations and in 
practice will be provided. There will also be a roundtable discussion 
of Session 2 topics.
    4:15 p.m.-5 p.m. Session 3: (Open)--Invited experts will discuss 
the status of technology for using cementitious materials to stabilize 
wastes.

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

    8:30 a.m.-11:35 a.m. Session 3, continued: (Open)--Invited experts 
will address the status and prospects of predicting durability of 
grouts; performance assessment perspectives on waste disposal; and 
practical approaches to make decisions on waste determinations. There 
will also be a roundtable discussion of Session 3 topics.
    11:35 a.m.-4:40 p.m. Session 4: (Open)--Invited experts will 
address status of technology for environmental monitoring of on-site 
waste disposal, monitoring of engineered barriers performance, and non-
destructive monitoring for cementitious waste forms. There will also be 
a roundtable discussion of Session 4 topics, as well as topics from 
other sessions as they relate to the waste determination provisions in 
the NDAA.
    4:40 p.m.-5 p.m.: (Open)--The ACNW Committee members will discuss 
the main thoughts and findings of the Working Group meeting, and a 
potential letter/report to the Commission.

Thursday, August 4, 2005

    10:15 a.m.-10:20 a.m.: Opening Statement (Open)--The ACNW Chairman 
will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of today's sessions.
    10:20 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Discussion of Current Letters/Reports 
(Open)--The Committee will discuss prepared draft letters and reports 
on April 2005 Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses Program 
Review, NRC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Generic Waste-Related 
Research, and Risk-Informing Nonreactor Activities.
    12:45 p.m.-3:45 p.m.: Status of Repository Design Issues (Open)--
The Committee will hear a briefing by the NRC staff on issues related 
to the design of a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The 
general areas to be addressed are: ``NRC Staff Views on the Sufficiency 
of Current U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Level of Design Detail;'' 
``Recent NRC Staff Visits to Spent Nuclear Fuel Handling Facilities in 
France (Cogema), and the United States (Idaho and Washington);'' and 
``Status of Development of NRC's Pre-Closure Safety Assessment Tool.''
    4 p.m.-4:45 p.m.: Past Waste Confidence Decisions (Open)--The 
Committee will hear a briefing by the NRC staff on waste confidence 
decisions (findings) made by the Commission prior to 1999.
    4:45 p.m.-5:15 p.m.: ACNW Low-Level Waste White Paper: Draft 3 
(Open)--The Committee will comment on the third draft of the white 
paper on low-level waste.
    5:15 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: Miscellaneous (Open)--The Committee will 
discuss matters related to the conduct of ACNW activities, and specific 
issues that were not completed during previous meetings, as time and 
availability of information permit. Discussions may include future 
Committee meetings.
    Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACNW meetings 
were published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2004 (69 FR 
61416). In accordance with these procedures, oral or written statements 
may be presented by members of the public. Electronic recordings will 
be permitted only during those portions of the meeting that are open to 
the public. Persons desiring to make oral statements should notify Ms. 
Sharon A. Steele, (Telephone 301-415-6805), between 7:30 a.m. and 4 
p.m. ET, as far in advance as practicable so that appropriate 
arrangements can be made to schedule the necessary time during the 
meeting for such statements. Use of still, motion picture, and 
television cameras during this meeting will be limited to selected 
portions of the meeting as determined by the ACNW Chairman. Information 
regarding the time to be set aside for taking pictures may be obtained 
by contacting the ACNW office prior to the meeting. In view of the 
possibility that the schedule for ACNW meetings may be adjusted by the 
Chairman as necessary to facilitate the conduct of the meeting, persons 
planning to attend should notify Ms. Steele as to their particular 
needs.
    Further information regarding topics to be discussed, whether the 
meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, the Chairman's ruling on 
requests for the opportunity to present oral statements and the time 
allotted, therefore, can be obtained by contacting Ms. Steele.
    ACNW meeting agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter reports are 
available through the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) at [email protected], or 
by calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from the Publicly Available 
Records System component of NRC's document system (ADAMS) which is 
accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html or http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ (ACRS & 
ACNW Mtg schedules/agendas).
    Video Teleconferencing service is available for observing open 
sessions of ACNW meetings. Those wishing to use this service for 
observing ACNW meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACNW 
Audiovisual Technician (301-415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. 
ET, at least 10 days before the meeting to ensure the availability of 
this service. Individuals or organizations requesting this service will 
be responsible for telephone line charges and for providing the 
equipment and facilities that they use to establish the video 
teleconferencing link. The availability of video teleconferencing 
services is not guaranteed.

    Dated: July 14, 2005.
Andrew L. Bates,
Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. E5-3857 Filed 7-19-05; 8:45 am]
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