The environmental protection agency's waste isolation pilot plant certification process: the steps leading to the decision

摘要

On October 30,1997,the United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rulemaking~1 to certify that the Department of Energy's (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) will comply with the radioactive waste disposal regulations set forth at 40 CFR Part 191.~2 If the EPA's final decision is consistent with the proposal,the WIPP decision is consistent with the proposal,the WIPP could become the nation's first deep underground disposal facility for transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste generated as a result of defense activities.Since WIPP is a first-of-a-kind facility,the EPA's regulatory program contains an abundance of unique technical questions,as well as controversial polity considerations and legal issues.The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process that the EPA undertook to reach its proposed decision.