Potential Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Repository; Board Meeting

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70749-70750]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32688]


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NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD


Potential Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Repository; Board Meeting

    Board meeting: January 25-26, 2000 Las Vegas, Nevada: Discussion of 
the sources and types of uncertainty associated with a performance 
assessment of a potential Yucca Mountain repository; update on 
scientific studies undertaken at the Yucca Mountain site; and status 
report on the DOE's development of a safety strategy for a potential 
Yucca Mountain repository.
    Pursuant to its authority under section 5051 of Public Law 100-203, 
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, on Tuesday, January 25, 
and Wednesday, January 26, 2000, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review 
Board (Board) will meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss the sources 
and types of technical and scientific uncertainty associated with an 
assessment of the performance of a potential Yucca Mountain repository 
and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed safety strategy for 
such a repository. The Board also will be briefed by the DOE on the 
status of scientific and technical studies being conducted in 
connection with the characterization of the Yucca Mountain site. The 
DOE is evaluating the Yucca Mountain site, located about 100 miles 
northwest of Las Vegas, to determine is suitability as the location of 
a repository for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-
level radioactive waste.
    The meeting will be held at the Alexis Park Hotel, 375 East Harmon 
Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109. The telephone numbers for the Alexis 
Park

[[Page 70750]]

are (702) 796-3300 and (800) 453-8000. The meeting sessions will begin 
at 8:30 a.m. on both days.
    On the morning of January 25, the DOE will update the Board on 
events that have taken place recently within the civilian radioactive 
waste management program and the Yucca Mountain project. The meeting 
then will turn to the topic of ``addressing uncertainty,'' with 
presentations on the role of uncertainty in complex analyses, decision-
making under uncertainty, addressing uncertainty in licensing a Yucca 
Mountain repository, and how uncertainty will be addressed and 
communicated in a decision about whether to recommend Yucca Mountain 
for development as a repository. Presentations on these topics will be 
made throughout the day and will be followed by a panel discussion of 
the presentation topics.
    The morning session on Wednesday, January 26, will focus on the 
DOE's safety strategy for a possible Yucca Mountain repository, 
including a discussion of the ``principal factors'' that have been 
identified by the DOE as being the most important to repository 
performance. Two of the factors, seepage and drip shield design, will 
be looked at in some detail in an effort to understand the process for 
identifying and establishing priorities for the various factors. Later 
in the morning and throughout the rest of the day, the DOE will update 
the Board on the status of scientific studies being conducted in 
connection with the characterization of the Yucca Mountain site, 
including chlorine-36 studies, fluid inclusion work, the studies at 
Busted Butte.
    The two-day meeting will be open to the public. Time for public 
comment will be set aside on both days. Those wanting to speak are 
encourage to sign the ``Public Comment Register'' at the check-in 
table. Depending on the number of requests, a time limit may be set on 
oral statements; written comments may be submitted for inclusion in the 
record of the meeting. Interested parties also may submit written 
questions 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.nwrb.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 of the Board staff, beginning on February 21, 2000. For further 
information on the meeting, contact Karyn Severson, External Affairs, 
NWTRB, at 2300 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 1300, Arlington, Virginia 
22201-3367; (tel) 703-235-4473; (fax) 703-235-4495; (e-mail) 
info@nwtrb.gov.
    A block of rooms has been reserved at the Alexis Park Hotel. 
Individuals wanting to reserve one of those rooms must do so by January 
3, 2000. To receive the preferred rate, please state that you are 
attending the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board meeting.
    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 Secretary of Energy 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: December 13, 1999.
William D. Barnard,
Executive Director, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
[FR Doc. 99-32688 Filed 12-16-99; 8:45 am]
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