U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY EXPERIENCE IN CREATING AND COMMUNICATING THE CASE FOR THE SAFETY OF A POTENTIAL YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY

Experience gained by the U.S. Department of Energy (the Department) in making the recommendation for the development of the Yucca Mountain site as the nation's first high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel repository is useful for creating documents to support the next phase in the repository program, the licensing phase. The experience that supported the successful site-recommendation process involved a three-tiered approach. First, was making a highly technical case for regulatory compliance. Second, was making a broader case for safety in an Environmental Impact Statement. And third, producing plain language brochures, made available to the public in hard copy and on the Internet, to explain the Department's action and its legal and scientific bases. This paper reviews lessons learned from this process, and makes suggestions for the next stage of the repository program: licensing