Book Description

In Fiscal Year 1996 a revised program strategy was developed that reflects Administration policy and responds to sharply reduced funding and congressional guidance while maintaining progress toward long-term objectives. The program is on track, working toward an early, comprehensive assessment of the viability of the Yucca Mountain site; more closely determining what will be required to incorporate defense waste into the waste management system; pursuing a market-driven strategy for waste acceptance, storage, and transportation; and preserving the core capability to respond to an interim storage contingency. Overall, the elements of an integrated system for managing the Nation's spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste are emerging, more soundly conceived, and more modestly designed, as the OCRWM works toward the physical reality of waste shipments to Federal facilities.