29 Oct (NucNet): Proposals to remove a �timeframe� from official documents stating when the US Yucca Mountain national nuclear waste repository will be available have been put forward for public comment.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says the proposed revisions to its so-called �waste confidence findings� are intended to support the agency�s reviews of licence applications for new commercial nuclear power plants by resolving appropriate issues generically in rule-making.

Waste confidence findings were first issued in 1984, revised in 1990 and reaffirmed in 1999. They state the NRC�s �confidence� that a geologic repository would be available sometime in the first quarter of the 21st century and that spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored without significant environmental impact for at least 30 years beyond the licensed operation of a reactor, including the term of a renewed licence.

The NRC said on 8 October 2008 that the proposed revisions would predict that repository capacity will be �available within 50 to 60 years beyond the licensed operation of all reactors�, and that spent fuel generated in any reactor can be safely stored without significant environmental impact for at least 60 years beyond the licensed operation of the reactor.

Regulators are also seeking public comment on whether a timeframe for the availability of a repository should be included at all.

�Eliminating the 2025 timeframe is not intended to signal a lack of confidence that a repository will be available by that date,� the NRC said. �However, the NRC recognises that a repository can only be available by that date if the agency ultimately approves the Department of Energy�s application to construct a repository at Yucca Mountain.

�That decision must await the results of the (NRC) staff�s technical review and the outcome of an NRC licensing proceeding on the application,� the NRC said. The Yucca Mountain application was submitted in June 2008 and formally docketed for review last month.

The NRC said it did not believe the existence of the 2025 date undermines its commitment to be an impartial adjudicator of the application. However, it �believes that deleting this date will remove even an appearance of prejudgment in a licensing proceeding for Yucca Mountain�.

�Revising its findings on the period for safe storage of spent fuel reflects the NRC�s confidence in the safety and security of spent fuel storage in pools and dry casks. This confidence is bolstered by operational experience over the past two decades, as well as extensive security assessments performed by the NRC and security enhancements ordered by the agency in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks,� the NRC said.

Comments on the proposed revisions will be accepted until 8 December 2008.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Regulators Promise �Rigorous� Examination Of Yucca Application (News in Brief No. 65, 5 June 2008)

Regulators Accept Yucca Mountain Application For Formal Review (News No. 71, 8 September 2008)

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