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List and Status of Key Technical Issues for High-Level Waste Disposal

The staff has identified the following nine key technical issues (KTIs) associated with the proposed geologic respository for the disposal of high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada:

KTI No.	Title	Short Description	Status
1.	Igneous Activity	The likelihood and consequences of volcanic activity	Closed-Pending
2.	Structural Deformation and Seismicity	Evaluation of earthquake and fault activity	Closed-Pending
3.	Evolution of the Near-Field Geochemical Environment	Changes in the waste package environment over long periods	Closed-Pending
4.	Container Life and Source Term	Prediction of the waste package container lifetime, including estimates of the amount of radioactivity that may escape from deteriorated waste packages	Closed-Pending
5.	Thermal Effects on Flow	Understanding the effects of heat generated by the waste on moisture flow around the repository	Closed-Pending
6.	Repository Design and Thermal-Mechanical Effects	Evaluating how heat from the waste may affect the mechanical properties of the geologic repository design	Closed-Pending
7.	Unsaturated and Saturated Flow under Isothermal Conditions	Characterization of ground water flow near the repository	Closed-Pending
8.	Radionuclide Transport	Identification of key geochemical processes that may control radionuclide transport at Yucca Mountain	Closed-Pending
9.	Total System Performance Assessment and Integration	Development of the capability to conduct and review total system performance assessments	Closed-Pending

Explanation of Status:

Issues are closed-pending if the NRC staff has confidence that the DOE proposed approach, together with the DOE agreement to provide the NRC with additional information (through specified testing, analysis, etc.), acceptably addresses the NRC's questions such that no information beyond that provided, or agreed to, will likely be required at time of initial license application. The term "closed pending" is merely a bookkeeping term. It means that DOE has agreed to provide information that, in the NRC staff's view, should close the issue, but, at the same time, this characterization does not imply that the staff has prejudged the outcome of the review of that information. Notwithstanding any such characterization, all issues will remain subject to further consideration during licensing if a license application for Yucca Mountain is received.

NUREG-1762, "Integrated Issue Resolution Status Report," provides background information on the status of pre-licensing interactions between the NRC and DOE concerning the proposed high-level waste geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.