Historical Information

On this page:

• NRC's Yucca Mountain Pre-Licensing Activities
• NRC's Yucca Mountain Licensing Activities (June 2008 – September 2011)
• NRC Staff Technical Evaluation Reports
• NRC's Knowledge Management Reports
• High-Level Waste Disposal Meeting Archive

NRC's Yucca Mountain Pre-Licensing Activities

In implementing its regulatory program for high-level waste (HLW) disposal, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initially focused on pre-licensing activities and activities to determine how the NRC will regulate the proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, throughout its lifecycle if the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is granted a license to construct and operate the facility. In so doing, the NRC was assisted by the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA). The CNWRA was established in 1987 as a Federally funded research and development center, sponsored by the NRC, to resolve technical and regulatory issues related to the potential geologic repository.

Before DOE submitted its license application to the NRC on June 3, 2008, the NRC had the following pre-licensing responsibilities, in addition to establishing High-Level Waste Disposal Regulations, Guidance, and Communications:

• Review of DOE's Site Characterization Process
  • Review of DOE's Quality Assurance Program
  • Resolution of Key Technical Issues for High-Level Waste Disposal
    • List and Status of KTIs for High-Level Waste
• Review of DOE's Site Recommendation
• Review of DOE's EIS for Yucca Mountain
• Development of Licensing Criteria

NRC's Yucca Mountain Licensing Activities (June 2008 – September 2011)

The NRC received an application from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on June 3, 2008, for a license to construct and operate the nation's first geologic repository for high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

On March 3, 2010, the DOE filed a motion with the Board seeking permission to withdraw its license application. The Board denied that request on June 29, 2010, and the parties filed petitions asking the Commission to uphold or reverse this decision.

On October 1, 2010, the NRC began orderly closure of its Yucca Mountain activities. As part of the orderly closure, the NRC staff prepared reports summarizing NRC staff's technical review of DOE's application.

On September 9, 2011, the Commission issued an order stating that it found itself evenly divided on whether to take the affirmative action of overturning or upholding the Board's June 29, 2010, decision. Exercising its inherent supervisory authority, the Commission directed the Board to complete all necessary and appropriate case management activities by the end of September. On September 30, 2011, the Board suspended the proceeding.

NRC Staff's Technical Evaluation Reports

NRC Makes Public Staff's Postclosure Technical Evaluation Report (July 21, 2011)

• News Release
• NUREG-2107, "Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository License Application; Postclosure Volume: Repository Safety After Permanent Closure." (ML11223A273)

NRC Makes Public Staff's Preclosure Technical Evaluation Report (September 1, 2011)

• News Release
• NUREG-2108, "Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository License Application; Preclosure Volume: Repository Safety Before Permanent Closure" (ML11250A093)

NRC Makes Public Staff's Administrative and Programmatic Technical Evaluation Report (September 12, 2011)

• News Release
• NUREG-2109, "Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository License Application; Administrative and Programmatic Volume" (ML11255A002)

NRC's Knowledge Management Reports

October 2010 – September 2011

• Airborne Particle Resuspension and Inhalation Radiological Dose Estimation Following Volcanic Events
• Analysis of Spatial Variability of Rock-Mass Quality and Thermal-Mechanical Effects in Geologic Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste
• Assessment of Probability of Localized Corrosion of Alloy 22 Waste Package Material
• Bench-Scale Tests of a Yucca Mountain Heated Drift Environment
• Bibliography of Technical Contributions to the Yucca Mountain Program by the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses, 1988-2011
• The Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA^®) Perspective on Prelicensing Interactions and Information Gathering
• Corrosion of Alloy 22 and Titanium Alloys Under Seepage Water Dripping Condition
• Corrosion of Alloy 22 Induced by Dust Deliquescence Brines
• Corrosion of Borated Stainless Steel in Water and Humid Air
• Corrosion of Simfuel in Aerated Carbonate Solution Containing Calcium and Silicate
• Corrosion of Stainless Steel Type 316L in a Seepage Water Dripping Environment
• Effects of Tilted and Faulted Strata on Seismic Ground Motion
• Electrochemical Behavior and Passivity of Titanium Grades 7 and 29 Under Immersion Conditions
• An Electrochemical Study on Passivation of Alloy 22 in Chloride-Containing Solutions With and Without Sulfur
• Evolution of NRC and Public Attitudes Regarding Public Outreach
• An Experimental Investigation of Single Fracture Flow Behavior Under Normal and Shear Loads
• Field and Laboratory Experiment to Estimate Bulking Factor for a Lithophysal Tuff, Fran Ridge, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
• Fission Track Constraints on Exhumation and Extensional Faulting in Southwest Nevada and Eastern California, U.S.A.
• History and Value of Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses
• In-Crevice Chemistry Model Development for Nickel-Based Alloys and Analysis of Model Results in View of Literature Information
• Interactions Between Magma and Waste Containers
• Knowledge Captured from Using Sharepoint to Support Program or Project Execution
• Lessons Learned from Public Outreach Meetings
• Numerical and Experimental Study of In-Drift Heat and Mass Transfer Processes
• Quantifying Low Probability Human Failure Events
• Quantitative Characterization of Alloy 22 Crevice Corrosion Damage Profiles
• Radionuclide Mobility at the Nopal I Natural Analog
• Radionuclide Sorption Technical Assistance Activities at the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses
• Response of Reinforced Concrete Structures to Aircraft Crash Impact
• Review of Numerical Analyses for Magma Drift Interaction at the Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository
• The Role of Matrix Diffusion as a Retardation and Attenuation Process at Yucca Mountain and Other Geologic Environments
• Seismic Effects on Soil-Structure Interactions
• Spectroscopic Analysis of Tephra as a Site Characterization Tool
• Stochastic Precipitation Simulation for Future Climate Conditions
• Stratigraphic Analysis and Regional Correlation of Oligocene and Early Miocene Strata in the Yucca Mountain Area
• Summary of Groundwater Flow Models of the Death Valley Regional Aquifer System and Yucca Mountain Area
• Synthesis Report for Yucca Mountain Region Tectonic Models

November 2016 – September 2017

• Evaluation of Methods Used to Calculate Seismic Fragility Curves
• Validation and Documentation of an Independent Groundwater Flow Modeling TooL (xFlo) for Use in Performance Confirmation of a Geologic Repository
• Yucca Mountain Seismic Hazard Analysis
• Approaches for Examining Risk Significance of Climate and Infiltration on Groundwater Flow
• Summary of Groundwater Studies of the Great Basin, Death Valley Regional Flow System, and Yucca Mountain Area
• Methods and Sensors for Monitoring Variably Saturated Fractured Rock and Thermal Environments
• Soil Stability and Seismic Site Response at Yucca Mountain, Nevada
• Long-Term Passivity of Alloy 22 and Near-Field Radionuclide Sequestration In a Potential Yucca Mountain Repository of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste Disposal

High-Level Waste Disposal Meeting Archive

The meeting archive contains records, such as transcripts, meeting summaries, and presentation materials for meetings associated with the high-level waste repository.

• Meeting Archive