PREFACE
From its inception, the Peer Review Panel has been aware of the difficult task facing the TSPA-VA staff in the analysis and evaluation of Yucca Mountain as a site for a repository for radioactive waste. Modeling the probable behavior of the proposed repository requires the characterization of a complex geologic setting and detailed analyses of a complicated and, in many ways, unprecedented set of problems. As set forth in the Peer Review Plan, the Panel’s mission in this final report was to review the completed TSPA-VA and to provide comments, concerns, conclusions, and recommendations that could be used in the development of a TSPA to support a license application, if the project progresses to this stage. In this regard, it is important to note that the Panel has reached no conclusions as to whether the TSPA-VA demonstrates that the proposed repository is acceptable or whether the project staff should proceed to the licensing application phase. This was not within our charge. All comments and recommendations in this report should be considered with this view in mind. In seeking to meet its assigned mission, members of the Panel have taken it to be their responsibility to identify problems and weaknesses in the approaches used and in the analyses conducted by the TSPA-VA staff. The primary goal of this effort was to assist the staff in focusing on those improvements crucial to the development of the TSPA, before it undergoes the critical review inherent in any type of licensing process. Because of the analytical and modeling difficulties noted by the Panel and the serious manner in which we viewed our assignment, this final report can be interpreted as being highly critical of many aspects of the TSPA-VA. While this may be the case, the Panel wants to emphasize that its criticisms are submitted solely with the objective of providing suggestions and recommendations that will be constructive and will help move the TSPA process forward. Panel members encourage those who disagree with its findings and recommendations to engage in discussions with one another and the Panel to clarify these disagreements and advance the understanding of all participating parties. The Panel expresses its appreciation to the TSPA staff and other scientists and engineers working on the project for all the assistance that they have given us. The TSPA-VA is a comprehensive and complex analysis, and we frequently found it helpful to talk to project staff to confirm our understanding of how the analysis was being done. In such cases, we always found the staff to be responsive and cooperative. We would thank each of these people by name were it not inevitable that we would leave out one or more individuals who assisted. We also thank Susan Wiltshire and Yanis Yortsos for their contributions. As the Panel’s technical secretary, Susan has managed the details of assembling numerous versions of documents coming from the Panelists into a complete report, and has provided the Panel with thoughtful reviews of draft report sections that focus on both the overall objectives and findings of the review as well as with the specifics of how the findings are to be communicated. Yanis Yortsos, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Southern California, has been a consultant to the Panel in the areas of thermal hydrology, unsaturated zone flow, and unsaturated and saturated zone transport. During the time that this final report was written, Yanis has essentially acted as a member of the Panel, taking the lead on specific technical issues, drafting our findings, and participating in the discussions that make this final report truly a team effort. The Panel also thanks Fanrong Chen of the University of Michigan and Mickey Hunacek and Cheryl Smith of Dade Moeller & Associates, Inc. for their assistance during this study. Finally, we thank Tom Rodgers for all his assistance as our point of contact with the project’s Managing and Operating Contractor. It has been a pleasure for all members of the Panel to work with Tom because he has handled all our organizational and administrative activities with great competence and efficiency, enabling us to concentrate on our review.