Staff Technical Position on consideration of fault displacement hazards in geologic repository design

Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in a geologic repository recognize that fault displacement is a potentially adverse condition. However, they do not prohibit designing the geologic repository against the effects of such a potentially adverse condition. This Staff Technical Position recognizes the acceptability of designing the geologic repository to take into account the attendant effects (e.g., displacement) of faults of regulatory concern and expresses the staff's views on what is needed from the US Department of Energy if it chooses to locate structures, systems, and components important to safety or important to waste isolation in areas that contain faults of regulatory concern