§10193 Identification of Sites

Summary

The Secretary must write general rules within 6 months after January 7, 1983, under the rule process in section 553 of title 5, for choosing sites for a test and evaluation facility. The Secretary must work with the Commission, the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Administrator, the Council on Environmental Quality, and other federal agencies as needed. The rules must say what makes a site acceptable or not. They must cover things like valuable natural resources, underground and earthquake conditions, nearby water supplies and users, nearby people, defense-related atomic energy activities, and closeness to national parks, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, wilderness areas, or national forests. The rules must require looking at different kinds of rock or soil and, where practical, finding sites in different geologic media. The Secretary must use these rules when choosing sites. Within 1 year after January 7, 1983, and after the rules are in place, the Secretary must identify three or more candidate sites. At least two must be in different geologic media in the continental United States, and at least one must be in a media other than salt. The Secretary should prefer media that slow the movement of radioactive materials in water. Except for areas already under review on January 7, 1983, or sites that already held high-level radioactive waste before being chosen, each site must be more than 15 statute miles from towns of over 1,000 people according to the latest census. Each site must have an environmental assessment that explains why it was chosen, the likely effects, a comparison with other options, how the decision was reached, and the local and regional impacts. The Secretary must notify the State Governor or the governing body of any affected Indian tribe as soon as possible. More sites may be added later using the same process.