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Yucca Mountain Project Status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2011

Thomas E. Kiess
Affiliation:
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
Stephen H. Hanauer
Affiliation:
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
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Abstract

The Yucca Mountain site was designated in July 2002 as the United States' location for a geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive wastes. This site designation was a watershed event in the history of the project, enabling the U.S. Department of Energy to seek a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct and operate a geologic repository. Summarized below are the history and technical basis for this site designation and some key anticipated future events. Many of the significant events to date have been framed by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (and Amendments) and the requirements of the regulatory standard.

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