Technical changes that would contribute to success in the civilian radioactive waste management program

This paper briefly reviews the history of the United States program for high-level waste disposal. It then describes the current DOE strategy for licensing and safety for a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Changes that have occurred since the origin of the program and since publication of the Site Characterization Plan are reviewed. These include changes in external circumstances, changes in technology and new understanding of Yucca Mountain. An alternative approach is then described, based on four key concepts: a simple safety case, reversibility, demonstrability, and decompling operation of a repository from the operation of reactors