Amendments to the act in 1987 directed DOE to investigate only the Yucca Mountain site. The contractor develops and maintains the baseline, but senior DOE managers must approve significant changes to cost or schedule estimates. DOE Will Not Be Ready to Submit a License Application within the Statutory Time Frame

DOE is not prepared to submit an acceptable license application to NRC within the statutory limits that would take effect if the site were approved. Essentially the Same Information Is Needed for a Site Recommendation and a License Application

Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, DOE’s site characterization activities are to provide information necessary to evaluate the Yucca Mountain site’s suitability for submitting a license application to NRC for placing a repository at the site. In implementing the act, DOE’s guidelines provide that the site will be suitable as a waste repository if the site is likely to meet the radiation protection standards that NRC would use to reach a licensing decision on the proposed repository. Bechtel anticipates a 5-year period of construction between the receipt of a construction authorization from NRC and the opening of the repository.
What GAO Found

The Department of Energy (DOE) has been investigating Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a possible repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste. In February, the Secretary of Energy endorsed the Yucca Mountain site, and the President recommended that Congress approve the site. If the site is approved, DOE must apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for authorization to build a repository. If the site is not approved for a license application, or if NRC denies a construction license, the administration and Congress will have to consider other options. GAO concludes that DOE is unprepared to submit an acceptable license application to NRC within the statutory deadlines if the site is approved. On the basis of a reassessment done by DOE's managing contractor in September 2001, GAO believes that DOE would not have enough time to obtain a license from NRC and build and open the repository by 2010. DOE lacks a reliable estimate of when, and at what cost, a license application can be submitted or a repository can be opened.