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Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73not60

§10245 Site Characterization; Licensing

Title 42 › Chapter 108— NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY › Subchapter IV— NUCLEAR WASTE NEGOTIATOR › § 10245

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

When Congress approves a law to carry out an agreement to host a waste repository, the Secretary must do the site studies called for in that agreement. Those studies must follow the rules in section 10133, except any mention of Yucca Mountain and Nevada in that section is treated as referring to the agreed site and the State or Indian tribe that made the agreement. After the studies are finished, the Secretary must apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to build. The Commission must review the application under the usual laws and must make a final yes-or-no decision within 3 years after the application is filed.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §10245

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Upon enactment of legislation to implement an agreement to site a repository negotiated under section 10243(a) of this title, the Secretary shall conduct appropriate site characterization activities for the site that is the subject of such agreement subject to the conditions and terms of such agreement. Any such site characterization activities shall be conducted in accordance with section 10133 of this title, except that references in such section to the Yucca Mountain site and the State of Nevada shall be deemed to refer to the site that is the subject of the agreement and the State or Indian tribe entering into the agreement.
(b)(1)Upon the completion of site characterization activities carried out under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an application for construction authorization for a repository at such site.
(2)The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall consider an application for a construction authorization for a repository or monitored retrievable storage facility in accordance with the laws applicable to such applications, except that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall issue a final decision approving or disapproving the issuance of a construction authorization not later than 3 years after the date of the submission of such application.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Pub. L. 100–202 and Pub. L. 100–203 added identical sections.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 10245

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60