High-Level Waste Disposal Regulations, Guidance, and Communications
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Regulations
Regulations issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are found in Chapter I of Title 10, "Energy," of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Chapter I is divided into Parts 1 through 199. Of these, the following are most relevant to the disposal of high-level waste (HLW) in a potential geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada:
- 10 CFR Part 63, "Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada"
- 10 CFR Part 60, "Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in Geologic Repositories"
- 10 CFR Part 2, "Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of Orders"
- 10 CFR 2.310(f), "Selection of Hearing Procedures" [for proceedings related to an application for initial construction authorization for a high-level radioactive waste repository]
- Subpart J, "Procedures Applicable to Proceedings for the Issuance of Licenses for the Receipt of High-Level Radioactive Waste at a Geologic Repository"
In addition, the following resources provide valuable related information:
- NUREG-0936, "NRC Regulatory Agenda" (a semiannual compilation that briefly describes all NRC rulemaking actions)
- Rulemaking Dockets
- All Current NRC Rulemakings
Guidance
Guidance documents that may prove useful to stakeholders include the following resources:
- NUREG-1804, "Yucca Mountain Review Plan," Final Revision 2, dated July 2003; also see the Federal Register notice in response to public comments received on the Draft Yucca Mountain Review Plan
- NUREG-1563, "Branch Technical Position on the Use of Expert Elicitation in the High-Level Radioactive Waste Program"
- Regulatory Guide 3.69, "Topical Guidelines for the Licensing Support System," Revision 1
- Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) Used by the HLW Repository Safety Staff
- ISG-01, "Review Methodology for Seismically Initiated Event Sequences
- ISG-02, "Preclosure Safety Analysis — Level of Information and Reliability Estimation"
- ISG-03, “Preclosure Safety Analysis — Dose Performance Objectives and Radiation Protection Program”
- ISG-04, “Preclosure Safety Analysis — Human Reliability Analysis”
Web (HTML) versions of some guidance documents are available in the various Document Collections in the NRC's Electronic Reading Room. Some are also available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS); see our table listing their availability.
Communications
Generic communications are the NRC's primary method of sending information to specific classes of licensees. These communications may take the following forms:
At this time, there are no generic communications relevant to either HLW disposal in general, or the proposed geologic respository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
