A critical element in solving our nation's nuclear waste problem is that scientists must provide a reasonable expectation that the repository will protect public health and safety and the environment for many thousands of years.
Congress directed the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to establish radiation
protection standards for a deep geologic repository and
assigned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission the responsibility to
regulate the repository to assure compliance with health
and safety standards.
The EPA's final radiation protection standards
- Set the dose limit of 15 millirem per year for the first 10,000 years after disposal;
- Establish a dose limit of 100 millirem per year between 10,000 years and 1 million years;
- Require the Department of Energy (DOE) to consider the effects of climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, and corrosion of the waste packages to contain safely the waste during the 1 million-year period; and
- Are consistent with the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences by establishing a radiological protection standard for this facility at the time of peak dose up to 1 million years after disposal.
The NRC will not award a license to the DOE unless it is satisfied that the repository will meet NRC licensing rules and the EPA’s safety standards.
Last reviewed: 10/08
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