Based on a court order to follow the National Academy of Sciences recomendations,
the EPA requires Yucca Mountain to contain the nuclear waste for a million years.
http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/yucca/2008factsheet.htmlEPA is announcing final public health and safety standards for the proposed facility for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The standards will protect public health and the environment for 1 million years, are consistent with the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and provide a reasonable test of the disposal system for an unprecedented time frame.
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1. Retain the dose limit of 15 millirem per year (150 microsieverts per year) for the first 10,000 years after disposal;
2. Establish a dose limit of 100 millirem per year (1 millisievert per year) between 10,000 years and 1 million years;
3. Require the Department of Energy (DOE) to consider the effects of climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, and corrosion of the waste packages to contain safely the waste during the 1 million-year period; and
4. Be consistent with the recommendations of the NAS by establishing a radiological protection standard for this facility at the time of peak dose up to 1 million years after disposal.
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