Press Release-15-016, NRC Staff to Prepare Supplement to Yucca Mountain Environmental Impact Statement
| ML15071A143 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 06300001 |
| Issue date: | 03/12/2015 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
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| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-15-016 | |
| Download: ML15071A143 (1) | |
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No: 15-016 March 12, 2015 CONTACT: Dave McIntyre, 301-415-8200 NRC Staff to Prepare Supplement to Yucca Mountain Environmental Impact Statement The Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified the public today the NRC staff will prepare a supplement to the Department of Energys environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
In todays Federal Register notice, the NRC staff explains the decision to supplement the EIS that DOE submitted in 2008. During its review, the NRC staff found the EIS did not adequately address all of the repository-related effects on groundwater, or from surface discharges of groundwater. In 2013, the Commission asked DOE to prepare a supplement. Instead, DOE updated its analysis of potential groundwater impacts after closure of a repository at the site, and in February 2015 the Commission directed the NRC staff to prepare the supplement. The NRC staff will use the DOE analysis in preparing the supplement.
The supplement will describe a key aquifer at the site and look at the potential for contaminants to reach it. It will analyze the degree of potential contamination and how water and contaminants could move. And it will discuss how soil, surface materials and the surrounding environment might be impacted by contaminated groundwater.
The NRC staff expects to issue a draft supplement for public comment in late summer.
Notifications will be made through the Federal Register, an email distribution list, a press release, the NRC website and media announcements in Nevada. During the comment period, the staff plans to hold three public meetings - two in Nevada and one at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. - and a public webcast and teleconference. Details on those meetings will be announced later. After considering the comments received, the staff expects to issue a final supplement next spring.