The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) will hold a public meeting in Idaho Falls, Idaho on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, to discuss the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) consent-based siting process activities related to its mission of developing one or more federal interim storage facilities for commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) as soon as practicable, and its research and development (R&D) activities related to high burnup SNF and advanced reactor waste disposition. DOE will provide an update on its consent-based siting activities, give an overview of environmental justice in consent-based siting, and describe how it is incorporating social science and digital tools during the consent-based siting process. DOE will present an update on its R&D activities related to high burnup SNF. DOE also will describe its advanced reactor waste disposition R&D efforts both in terms of determining from a technical perspective how it can accept the SNF and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) for transportation and disposal and in developing and implementing an R&D plan to address technical gaps related to storage, transportation, and disposal of advanced reactor SNF and HLW. The public meeting will be preceded by a one-day international workshop on the Siting of Radioactive Waste Facilities. A separate press release will be issued on that workshop.
The hybrid (in-person/virtual) meeting will begin at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) and is scheduled to adjourn at approximately 4:00 p.m. MDT. The Board meeting will be held at Snake River Event Center, 780 Lindsay Blvd, Idaho Falls, ID 83402, which is located at the Shilo Inns Idaho Falls. The event center telephone number is (208) 497-0611 and the hotel telephone number is (208) 523-0088. Details for joining and viewing the meeting will be available on the Board’s website approximately one week before the meeting.
A detailed agenda will be available on the Board’s Web site at https://www.nwtrb.gov approximately one week before the meeting. Meeting presentations and an acronym list will be available on the Board’s website the day before the meeting. The meeting will be open to the public and there will be an opportunity for public comment at the end of the consent-based siting portion of the program and again, prior to meeting adjournment. Those attending the meeting in person and wanting to provide oral comments are encouraged to sign in at the Public Comment Register at the check-in table. Oral commenters will be taken in the order in which they signed in. Depending on the number of speakers, a time limit on individual remarks may be set. Attendees also are encouraged to pre-register, by providing your name and affiliation to SitingWorkshop@nwtrb.gov, to reduce their time for signing in at the check-in table.
Public comments can also be submitted during the meeting via the online meeting viewing platform, using the “Comment for the Record” form. Comments submitted online during theday of the meeting will be posted to the Board’s website the following day However, written comments of any length may be submitted to the Board staff by mail or electronic mail. All comments received in writing will be included in the meeting record, which will be posted on the Board’s website after the meeting. An archived recording of the meeting will be available on the Board’s website following the meeting, and a transcript of the meeting will be available on the website by October 30, 2023.
The Board was established in the 1987 amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) as an independent agency in the Executive branch to perform an ongoing objective evaluation of the technical validity of activities undertaken by the DOE related to implementing the NWPA. Board members are experts in their fields and are appointed by the President from a list of candidates submitted by the National Academy of Sciences. The Board is required to report its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to Congress and the Secretary. Board reports, correspondence, congressional testimony, and meeting transcripts and materials are posted on the Board’s Web site.
For information on the meeting, contact Bret Leslie at leslie@nwtrb.gov or by phone 703-235-9132; or Yoonjo Lee at lee@nwtrb.gov or by phone 703-235-4482. For information on meeting logistics, contact Davonya Barnes at barnes@nwtrb.gov or by phone 703-235-9141.
All three may be reached by mail at 2300 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22201-3367; or by fax at 703-235-4495.