Domenici Encouraged by Release Today of DOE Yucca Schedule

Washington, D.C. – The new schedule for licensing and construction of Yucca Mountain made public today by the Department of Energy is a positive step in the right direction, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici said.

Chairman Domenici’s statement:

“This is an ambitious schedule but it’s nice to actually see a schedule. This is the most detailed schedule on Yucca Mountain that I have seen in recent memory. I congratulate DOE for setting these goals. I continue to support Yucca as a long-term strategy and remain committed to funding this project. However, since a decade will have passed since the deadline for DOE to begin to accept spent fuel, we must do something now to meet this obligation. In the near term, the Consolidation and Preparation facilities in my appropriations bill will get us to 2017 and complements the long-term Yucca plan outlined by DOE today.”

The DOE licensing schedule released today is as follows:

Design for license application complete, Nov. 30, 2007;

Licensing Support Network certification, Dec. 21, 2007;

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued, May 30, 2008;

Final license application verifications complete, May 30, 2008;

Final rail alignment EIS issued, June 30, 2008;

License application submittal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, June 30, 2008;

License application docketed by NRC, Sept. 30, 2008;

DOE’s “best achievable” repository construction schedule is as follows:

Start Nevada rail construction Oct. 5, 2009;

Construction authorization from NRC, Sept. 30, 2011;

Receive and Possess license application submittal to NRC, March 29, 2013;

Rail access in service, June 30, 2014;

Construction complete for initial operations, March 30, 2016;

Start up and pre-op testing complete, Dec. 31, 2016;

Begin receipt, March 31, 2017.

Republican News