Yucca Mountain Project Timeline

Following more than 20 years of study by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Congress approved the President’s recommendation of the Yucca Mountain site for development as a repository for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

The next step in the repository’s development is for the DOE to submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to construct the repository. If the license to construct is granted, the DOE would begin building a repository.

At this time, Bechtel SAIC Company is assisting the Department of Energy in:

• Compiling information and writing sections of the license application
• Continuing to develop the design of the repository
• Refining the performance assessment capability
• Addressing key technical issues identified by the NRC
• Identifying and preparing potentially relevant documentary material for the NRC's Licensing Support Network
• Conducting technical exchanges with the NRC staff