Needed geologic and seismic rulemaking for HLW repositories
- Jay L. Smith Co., Inc., Occidental, CA (US)
This paper reports that informal guidance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NCR) staff to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has indicated that geologic and seismic siting criteria (10 CFR Part 100, Appendix A) for nuclear power plants do not apply to HLW repositories. This is important, particularly for the candidate Yucca Mountain site where quaternary faults exist, because precedents set in nuclear power plant licensing have effectively precluded site suitability if Quaternary faults are present and if consideration must be given to facility design for accommodating fault displacement. Regulations for HLW repositories (10 CFR Part 60) do not preclude site suitability if Quaternary faults are present, but require performance assessment to demonstrate that radionuclide releases to the accessible environment will be acceptably low. Nevertheless, a formal NRC rulemaking should be developed to address the fault-displacement issue specifically, perhaps as an appendix to 10 CFR Part 60.
- OSTI ID:
- 140806
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-920430-; ISBN 0-87262-891-4; TRN: 92:031497
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 3. international high level radioactive waste management (IHLRWM) conference, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 12-16 Apr 1992; Other Information: PBD: 1992; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of high level radioactive waste management; Volume 1; PB: 2425 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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