Past Public Meetings

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s Panel on the Repository met December 17, 1997, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Augusta, Georgia. Panel members were briefed on high-level waste forms, other than commercial spent nuclear fuel, that could be disposed of in a deep geologic repository.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board returned to Amargosa Valley, Nevada, on January 20-21, 1998, to hold a public meeting on the Yucca Mountain project. The focus of the meeting was the thermal testing program and saturated zone modeling for Yucca Mountain, and public comments on the Board’s activities under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s Panel on Performance Assessment (Panel) examined the Department of Energy’s (DOE) total system performance assessment for the viability assessment (TSPA-VA) on April 23-24, 1998, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Panel focused on the two major elements of the TSPA-VA: a base case and sensitivity tests.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board hosted a workshop addressing waste package alternative designs and research needs on May 18-19, 1998, in Falls Church, Virginia.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board held its summer meeting June 24, 1998, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) was invited to make presentations on alternative waste package designs that could be used to dispose of the nation’s commercial spent nuclear fuel, and alternative designs for constructing a repository at the potential site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

On January 25, 1999, members of the Panel on the Repository, Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board), met to discuss the process for evaluating alternative repository designs and selecting license application designs (LADS).

On Tuesday, January 26, and Wednesday, January 27, the members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) held a full board meeting to review the DOE’s viability assessment (VA).

On Tuesday and Wednesday, June 29 and 30, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) met in Beatty, Nevada, to review the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) analysis comparing possible repository designs and to hear reports on the status of scientific studies related to the characterization of a potential repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, September 14 and 15, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) met in Alexandria, Virginia, to review the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) safety strategy for a proposed Yucca Mountain repository. The Board was also briefed by the DOE on several scientific and technical studies being conducted at the site.

On Tuesday, January 25, and Wednesday, January 26, 2000, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) met in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss the sources and types of technical and scientific uncertainty associated with an assessment of the performance of a potential Yucca Mountain repository and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed safety strategy for such a repository.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) met in Pahrump, Nevada, on Monday, May 1, 2000, to review the status of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) efforts to develop a design for a potential repository for disposing of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

On Monday, July 10, 2000, members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s (Board) Panel on the Waste Management System met in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to discuss technical issues related to managing spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including human factors involved in transporting such waste.

On Tuesday, August 1, and Wednesday, August 2, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) met in Carson City, Nevada, to discuss technical and scientific issues related to evaluating a possible site for a repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Among the issues that were discussed are a total system performance assessment (TSPA), a safety strategy for the potential repository, and scientific and engineering studies being conducted to evaluate the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site.

On Tuesday, May 8, and Wednesday, May 9, 2001, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) held a meeting in Arlington, Virginia, to discuss U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) efforts to characterize a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the possible location of a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. At the meeting, the DOE presented updates on important aspects of its technical and scientific program by answering questions posed by the Board on important technical issues related to the evaluation of the Yucca Mountain site.

On Wednesday, June 20, and Thursday, June 21, 2001, members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s (Board) Panel on Performance Assessment and its Panel on the Repository held a joint meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Supplemental Science and Performance Analyses (SSPA).

On Thursday, July 19, and Friday morning, July 20, 2001, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) hosted a workshop in Arlington, Virginia. The workshop focused on issues related to long-term (thousands of years) extrapolation of the corrosion resistance of waste package materials being proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for use in a potential Yucca Mountain repository.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board met in Las Vegas, Nevada, from Monday, September 10, to Wednesday, September 12, 2001, to discuss the status of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) efforts to characterize a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the possible location of a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (the Board) held its winter meeting in Arlington, Virginia, on January 5-6, 1993. The meeting focused primarily on the system implications of interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, from generation to disposal.

On Tuesday, January 30, 2001, and Wednesday, January 31, 2001, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) returned to Amargosa Valley, Nevada, to discuss U.S. Department of Energy efforts to characterize a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the possible location of a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

An ad hoc panel of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) met on Friday, April 13, 2001 in Arlington, Virginia, to discuss the ways in which multiple lines of evidence might be used to increase confidence in the performance assessments of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.