[en] The design of the U.S. Department of Energy's (the Department) Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility has evolved and will continue as the role that the facility will potentially play in the Federal waste management system becomes better defined. With the passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (the Amendments Act) of 1987, major revisions to the scope and implementation strategy of the Department's high-level radioactive waste disposal program occurred. As a result of Congressional authorization of a monitored retrievable storage facility, provided for in the Amendments Act, the Department has initiated a re-evaluation of an MRS in the waste management system to examine the benefits and effectiveness of a facility to the system. In light of the enacted legislation, the role of the MRS in the system and the role's impact on the design of the MRS facility is traced to provide some insight regarding the Department's thinking on the MRS concept. (author) 3 figs., 8 refs