Past Public Meetings

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board held its summer meeting June 24, 1998, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) was invited to make presentations on alternative waste package designs that could be used to dispose of the nation’s commercial spent nuclear fuel, and alternative designs for constructing a repository at the potential site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board hosted a workshop addressing waste package alternative designs and research needs on May 18-19, 1998, in Falls Church, Virginia.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s Panel on Performance Assessment (Panel) examined the Department of Energy’s (DOE) total system performance assessment for the viability assessment (TSPA-VA) on April 23-24, 1998, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Panel focused on the two major elements of the TSPA-VA: a base case and sensitivity tests.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board returned to Amargosa Valley, Nevada, on January 20-21, 1998, to hold a public meeting on the Yucca Mountain project. The focus of the meeting was the thermal testing program and saturated zone modeling for Yucca Mountain, and public comments on the Board’s activities under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s Panel on the Repository met December 17, 1997, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Augusta, Georgia. Panel members were briefed on high-level waste forms, other than commercial spent nuclear fuel, that could be disposed of in a deep geologic repository.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s Panel on the Waste Management System met November 19-20, 1997, to examine the safety issues surrounding spent fuel transport.

Potential repository design and operations and waste package design and modeling headlined the Board’s fall meeting in Fairfax, Virginia, October 22-23, 1997. On Wednesday morning, October 22, Department of Energy (DOE) representatives updated the Board on the high-level nuclear waste management program and current and future activities at the potential repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Thursday, October 23, was devoted to waste package design and modeling.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s Panel on the Environment, Regulations, and Quality Assurance met at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, October 21, 1997, in Fairfax, Virginia. The meeting included presentations on the biosphere near Yucca Mountain, Nevada, potential site of a repository for commercial spent nuclear fuel and defense high-level waste.

Repository system performance and uncertainties about the engineered and natural barriers at Yucca Mountain headlined the Board’s summer meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 25-26, 1997.

Two issues of local importance – transportation and total system performance assessment (TSPA) – highlighted the first day’s agenda for the NWTRB’s winter meeting in Pahrump, Nevada, January 28-29, 1997.

At the Board's fall meeting, October 9-10, 1996, in Arlington, Virginia, Dr. Daniel Dreyfus, director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), provided the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board’s (the Board) with an overview of OCRWM’s fiscal year 1997 activities, and how those activities drove a decision in 1998 on whether or not the DOE views Yucca Mountain as a viable site for a repository.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (the Board) held its summer meeting on July 9-10, 1996, in Denver, Colorado. The meeting focused on two main issues: exploration and testing activities at Yucca Mountain, and past and future climates and hydrology at Yucca Mountain.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) set its spring meeting for April 30 and May 1, 1996, in Austin, Texas. The Board explored the rationale underlying the OCRWM program, which has been revised in light of funding constraints. OCRWM presenters provided a broad outline of recent programmatic changes, especially those related to site characterization and repository development.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board scheduled its winter meeting for January 10-11, 1996, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The meeting concentrated on updates from the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) and on issues related to site suitability.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board scheduled its fall meeting for October 17-18, 1995, in Arlington, Virginia. The meeting focused on strategic program issues and Total System Performance Assessment.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board scheduled its summer meeting for Tuesday and Wednesday, July 11-12, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Discussions focused on the progress being made excavating the exploratory studies facility (ESF) at Yucca Mountain, the status of issues related to repository design and operation, and the repository licensing process.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board's (the Board) Panel on Hydrogeology & Geochemistry met on June 26 and 27, 1995, near San Francisco to examine ground-water flow and potential radionuclide transport in arid regions, including the Negev Desert in Israel.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board's (the Board) Panel on Transportation & Systems held a meeting on June 14, 1995, in Arlington, Virginia. The focus of the meeting was system safety and human factors engineering for the Department of Energy's (DOE) civilian radioactive waste management program and its site-characterization efforts at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board's Panel on the Engineered Barrier System held a meeting on Tuesday, June 6, 1995, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Discussion at the meeting focused on Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) management and research activities that could potentially affect plans to design and construct a permanent repository for civilian spent fuel and high-level defense waste.

The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) sponsored a meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23 and 24, 1995, to discuss how peoples' beliefs about the risks associated with a potential high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain might affect the social and economic conditions of the area.