Geological repository

An excavated, underground facility that is designed, constructed, and operated for safe and secure permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste. A geological repository uses an engineered barrier system and a portion of the site's natural geology, hydrology, and geochemical systems to isolate the radioactivity of the waste. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, specifies that this waste will be disposed of in a deep geologic repository, and that Yucca Mountain, NV, will be the single candidate site for such a repository. On June 3, 2008, DOE submitted a license application to the NRC seeking authorization to construct the Yucca Mountain repository. For further detail, see High-Level Waste Disposal.