[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44557-44558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21088]
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NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD
Board Meeting: September 14-15, 1999--Arlington, Virginia: Review
of the Department of Energy's Safety Strategy for a Potential
Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and of Scientific Studies
Undertaken at the Yucca Mountain Site
Pursuant to its authority under section 5051 of Public Law 100-203,
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, the Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board (Board) will hold a meeting on Tuesday and
Wednesday, September 14 and 15, in Alexandria, Virginia, to review the
U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) waste isolation and containment
strategy for a potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The
meeting will be open to the public.
The meeting will be held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 901 North
Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-1501. The telephone number
is 703-683-6000. The Board meeting sessions will begin at 9 a.m. on
both days.
On the morning of September 14, the DOE will update the Board on
events that have taken place recently within the civilian radioactive
waste
[[Page 44558]]
management program and the Yucca Mountain project. Presentations will
be on important issues related to the performance of a potential
repository including the effects of waste heat on repository behavior,
the significance of chlorine-36 isotopes found in exploratory tunnels,
the characteristics and processes of the saturated zone that will
affect radionuclide releases, and results from corrosion tests of waste
package materials. An update on repository design also will be
presented.
In the afternoon, the DOE will make a series of presentations on
the latest version of its repository safety strategy. Included will be
an analysis of the ``defense in depth'' envisioned for the repository
system and identification of key research priorities that the project
will address over the next 18 months.
The morning session on September 15 will focus on the DOE's work to
revise its total system performance assessment (TSPA) and on its use of
multiple lines of evidence to develop a strategy for demonstrating the
safety of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. Included among the
presentations will be a discussion of the treatment of uncertainty in
TSPA, especially the use of bounding analyses. The use of natural
analogs, or naturally occurring phenomenon that could increase
understanding of conditions at Yucca Mountain, also will be discussed.
The afternoon session will be devoted to presentations on model
validation by the DOE and a subsequent roundtable discussion on this
issue.
The meeting will be open to the public on both days. Time for
public comment will be set aside at approximately 11:30 a.m. on both
days and at the end of the afternoon session (approximately 4:30 p.m.)
on September 14. Those wanting to speak are encouraged to sign the
``Public Comment Register'' at the check-in table. Depending on the
number of requests, a time limit may be imposed on oral statements, but
written comments of any length may be submitted for inclusion in the
record of the meeting. Interested parties also may submit questions in
writing 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.nwtrb.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, Board staff, beginning on October 18, 1999. For further
information, contact Karyn Severson, Director of 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.
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 DOE 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: August 10, 1999.
William D. Barnard,
Executive Director, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.
[FR Doc. 99-21088 Filed 8-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-AM-M
