United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-12-21 monographic deposited born digital 38 p. GA 1.13:GAO-02-191 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191 P0b002ee180392d56 f:d02191 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191 GAO-02-191 Nuclear energy Energy law Energy legislation Nuclear waste storage Radioactive wastes Nuclear powerplants Yucca Mountain (NV) Other Written Product A02614 The administration's energy policy reflects renewed interest in expanding nuclear power as a source of electricity. However, the nation does not have a facility to permanently dispose of highly radioactive spent fuel from existing commercial nuclear power plants. As required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been studying a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to determine its suitability for disposing of highly radioactive wastes in a mined geologic repository. Recommending to the President that the Yucca Mountain site is suitable for a repository is within the discretion of the Secretary of Energy but may be premature. Once the President considers the site qualified for a license application and recommends the site to Congress, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires DOE to submit a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) within five to eight months. On the basis of information GAO reviewed, DOE will be unable to submit an acceptable application to NRC within the statutory time frames for several years because of unresolved technical issues. DOE is unlikely to achieve its goal of opening a repository at Yucca Mountain by 2010 and currently does not have a reliable estimate of when, and at what cost, such a repository can be opened. Since DOE stopped using the cost and schedule baseline to manage the site investigation in 1997, the repository program's baseline has not reflected changes in the program. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191.pdf GAO-02-191 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-191 Other Written Product GAO-02-191; Nuclear Waste: Technical, Schedule, and Cost Uncertainties of the Yucca Mountain Repository Project; Nuclear energy Energy law Energy legislation Nuclear waste storage Radioactive wastes Nuclear powerplants Yucca Mountain (NV)