NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The council is administered jointly by both academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
The material summarized in this report was the product of a September 1990 symposium by the Board on Radioactive Waste Management and was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC01-89DP48070.
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S-547
Cover art by Maggie Stewart, Mezzanine Multiples, Alexandria Virginia
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COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES
M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chairman,
The Johns Hopkins University
ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
B. CLARK BURCHFIEL,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PETER S. EAGLESON,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
HELEN M. INGRAM,
University of Arizona
GENE E. LIKENS,
New York Botanical Garden
SYUKURO MANABE,
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
JACK E. OLIVER,
Cornell University
PHILIP A. PALMER,
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
FRANK L. PARKER,
Vanderbilt University
DUNCAN T. PATTEN,
Arizona State University
MAXINE L. SAVITZ,
Allied Signal Aerospace Company
LARRY L. SMARR,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
STEVEN M. STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University
CRISPIN TICKELL,
Green College at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford
KARL K. TUREKIAN,
Yale University
IRVIN L. WHITE,
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories
Staff
STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director
JANICE E. MEHLER, Assistant Executive Director
JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer
CARLITA PERRY, Administrative Assistant
ROBIN LEWIS, Senior Project Assistant
BOARD ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
Current Members
CHRIS G. WHIPPLE, Chairman,
Clement International
CHARLES FAIRHURST, Vice-Chairman,
University of Minnesota
COLIN ALLEN,
AECL Research*
LYNDA L. BROTHERS,
Davis Wright Tremaine
SOL BURSTEIN, retired, former Vice Chairman,
Wisconsin Electric Power*
PAUL BUSCH,
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.
MELVIN CARTER, retired, formerly Professor,
Georgia Institute of Technology*
CARON CHESS,
Rutgers University*
E. WILLIAM COLGLAZIER,
National Research Council
B. JOHN GARRICK,
Pickard, Lowe & Garrick, Inc.*
ROBERT D. HATCHER,
University of Tennessee
DAVID H. MARKS,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PERRY L. McCARTY,
Stanford University
ROGER O. McCLELLAN,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology
FRED W. McLAFFERTY,
Cornell University
D. KIRK NORDSTROM,
U.S. Geological Survey
GLENN PAULSON,
Illinois Institute of Technology
DAN REICHER,
Natural Resources Defense Council*
Participating Former Members
CLARENCE R. ALLEN,
California Institute of Technology
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,
University of Virginia
G. ROSS HEATH,
University of Washington
RICHARD K. LESTER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
FRANK L. PARKER,
Vanderbilt University
SUSAN D. WILTSHIRE,
J.K. Associates
Current Staff
PETER B. MYERS, Staff Director
CARL A. ANDERSON, Deputy Staff Director
INA B. ALTERMAN, Senior Staff Officer
ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer
ALEXANDRA N. BERNSTEIN, Research Associate
REBECCA D. ROSS, Administrative Assistant
SHELLEY A. MYERS, Administrative Secretary
RICKY PAYNE, Administrative Secretary
JAMES GLADDEN, Administrative Secretary
Participating Former Staff
JOHN S. SIEG, Senior Staff Officer
ROBERT J. CATLIN, Consultant
JUDITH L. ESTEP, Administrative Secretary
BETTY A. KING, Administrative Secretary
Preface
The Board on Radioactive Waste Management (BRWM) of the National Research Council convened a symposium on Radioactive Waste Repository Licensing in September 1990 while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was in the process of reviewing "Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Waste" (the Standard). EPA was planning to reissue the Standard, the basis for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) repository licensing regulations, in early 1991.
The BRWM had recently issued a position paper that raised questions about the philosophy and methodology of the U.S. high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) program. The BRWM wanted to hear views on regulation and licensing issues from a broad spectrum of the radioactive waste community in a neutral forum. The entities that comprise the radioactive waste community — government agencies, public interest groups, research groups, international organizations, and advisory bodies — were invited to the symposium to examine the status of radioactive waste repository licensing requirements.
The synopsis following this preface identifies the issues discussed at the symposium. It is intended to present neither conclusions nor recommendations but, rather, scientific and policy concerns expressed by the HLRW community. The papers from the 25 symposium presenters are not included because the speakers were invited on the basis that they not be required to submit texts of their presentations. Accordingly, a complete set of presenters papers does not exist.
The BRWM is grateful for the exceptionally active participation of the symposium audience and especially wishes to thank all the speakers for their contributions.
Frank L. Parker, Chairman
Board on Radioactive Waste Management