WASHINGTON, DC – Today, September 8, 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced it has docketed the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Yucca Mountain license application seeking authorization to build America’s first national geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.  On June 3, 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy submitted its license application and EIS for the repository project to the NRC.  U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman issued the following statement:

“This is a significant step forward in solving the nation’s problem of disposing of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste currently sitting at 121 temporary locations in 39 states across the country.  I am confident the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s rigorous review process will validate that the Yucca Mountain repository will safely store this waste in a manner that is most protective of human health and the environment.  As energy demand in the United States grows, the expansion of commercial nuclear power will be the key to providing the large amounts of emissions-free base load power we need, and the establishment of the Yucca Mountain repository is an important step toward enabling that expansion to occur.”

Media contact(s):
Joann Wardrip, (202) 586-4940