Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Draft Mission Plan Amendment

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/138198· OSTI ID:138198

The Department of Energy`s Office Civilian Radioactive Waste Management has prepared this document to report plans for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program, whose mission is to manage and dispose of the nation`s spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste in a manner that protects the health and safety of the public and of workers and the quality of the environment. The Congress established this program through the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Specifically, the Congress directed us to isolate these wastes in geologic repositories constructed in suitable rock formations deep beneath the surface of the earth. In the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, the Congress mandated that only one repository was to be developed at present and that only the Yucca Mountain candidate site in Nevada was to be characterized at this time. The Amendments Act also authorized the construction of a facility for monitored retrievable storage (MRS) and established the Office of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. After a reassessment in 1989, the Secretary of Energy restructured the program, focusing the repository effort scientific evaluations of the Yucca Mountain candidate site, deciding to proceed with the development of an MRS facility, and strengthening the management of the program. 48 refs., 32 figs.

Research Organization:
USDOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI ID:
138198
Report Number(s):
DOE/RW--0316P; ON: TI91018150
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English