One Step at a Time The Staged Development of Geologic Repositories for High-Level Radioactive Waste (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-12
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The report addresses staging primarily as applied to a generic repository program with applications to the U.S. program at Yucca Mountain (the Yucca Mountain Project)
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Taken separately, these attributes do not constitute the process that the committee calls Adaptive Staging; the simultaneous presence of these attributes makes the staging process truly Adaptive.2 The decision-making process separating stages is referred to as a "Decision Point." A Decision Point is not just a "point" in time, but a process involving analyses, review, and evaluations, as well as the consequent decisions for future actions. Thus, at a Decision Point, the program implementer initiates a process that: systematically gathers, synthesizes evaluates.
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If a project satisfies most of these criteria, the committee believes that an Adaptive approach may be less error-prone, and thus more efficient, than Linear strategies, which have encountered serious obstacles when used in the clevelopment of geologic repository programs (see Section 2.~.
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~ ~ _ It has been argued that the security of nuclear materials is easier to ensure if they are emplaced deep underground; thus, those materials should be emplaced in a geologic repository as soon as they are ready for disposal. Adaptive Staging may slow the initial pace of underground waste emplacement and, therefore, it may lead to longer periods in which the waste is more accessible to humans.
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DOE has recognized the advantages of staging the development of the Yucca Mountain repository program and its current activities and plans satisfy some key attributes of Adaptive Staging: for example, stakeholders have access to a great amount of documentation and information. DOE is also in the process of introducing other changes in its program consistent with Adaptive Staging, the obvious examples being the increased emphasis on a potential pilot stage (see Appendix F
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Should information that justifies modifications to the reference framework be obtained during early stages, program adaptations would be carried out through subsequent modifications to the safety analysis and then through license amendments. The iterative review of the repository safety case called for in Adaptive Staging is also compatible with the regulatory process.
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For instance, learning will be minimal unless the implementer actively seeks out alternative viewpoints, openly acknowledges errors and uncertainties, specifically addresses societal issues, and organizes and undertakes relevant research to improve the knowledge base. The long time scale of repository operation implies that organizational performance needs to be maintained over decades and possibly centuries.
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To support this learning, repository programs should have: . a broad, comprehensive, tong-term science and technology program that continues throughout the lifetime of repository operations; is targeted and accountable, peer-reviewed, and of sufficient breadth to address key knowledge gaps, including those in social sciences; and also defines learning objectives for each stage;
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Emphasis on a system of independent peer review is important. The implementer should encourage the establishment of a technical oversight group that also includes a social science component and is independent of the government to provide an independent technical analysis and to provide advice on the repository development program.
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on the full inventory. If DOE decides to begin its repository program with a reduced-scale pilot stage, it should nevertheless present a safety analysis for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a safety case for stakeholders and the general public both based on a fullinventory repository.7 A full-inventory safely analysis and a safety case are important in the United States, as in any waste disposal program, to help establish confidence by the regulator and by the general public, respectively, in the ultimate safety of the complete repository system envisioned.
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7. DOE should continue to actively promote a safety culture throughout the long duration of the Yucca Mountain Project.
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These counterbalancing arguments lead to the cautious caveats applied to the committee's recommendations but should not detract from the consensus reached: because of the distinctive challenges faced in developing a geologic repository program (see Section 1.2.~) , and the context in which these must be addressed (see Sections 2.5, 3.1, and 3.2)
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