Book Description
The Management and Operating Contractor established a Performance Assessment Peer Review Panel (hereinafter ''the Panel'') at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office. The objectives of the peer review were to provide: (1) A formal, independent evaluation and critique of Viability Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain: Total System Performance Assessment, Volume 3 (DOE 1998a; hereinafter ''Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment'') that was conducted in support of the Viability Assessment of a Repository at Yucca Mountain (DOE 1998b). (2) Suggestions for improvements as the U.S. Department of Energy prepares to develop the documentation for a Total System Performance Assessment to support a potential License Application. The Panel conducted a phased review over a two-year period to observe the development and, ultimately, to review the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a). During the development of the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a), the Panel submitted three Interim Reports (Whipple et al., 1997a, 1997b, and 1998) to the Management and Operating Contractor with recommendations and comments on the process models, model abstractions, and draft documentation for the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a). The Panel's Final Report Total System Performance Assessment Peer Review Panel (Whipple et al. 1999; hereinafter ''Final Report'') on the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a) is based primarily on the completed Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a), the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (TSPA-VA) Analyses Technical Basis Document (CRWMS M and O 1998), and the cited references. The Final Report (Whipple et al. 1999) includes the major points from the three Interim Reports (Whipple et al. 1997a, 1997b, and 1998), updated where appropriate, as well as new findings that the Panel developed during its review of the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a). In the Final Report (Whipple et al. 1999), the Panel notes that the objective of the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (DOE 1998a) was to describe the probable behavior of the potential repository. This report documents the comments provided in the Final Report (Whipple et al. 1999) and the Management and Operating Contractor responses to these comments. The responses were based on input from a number of scientists from the Management and Operating Contractor, several national laboratories, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The comments and responses are organized to be consistent with the major headings in the Final Report (Whipple et al. 1999). Excerpts from the Final Report (Whipple et al. 1999) are in italics; the Management and Operating Contractor responses to the comments are in straight text.