Development of a performance assessment capability in the waste managementprograms of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has developed a performa nce assessment capability to address three programmatic areas in nuclear wa ste management: high-level waste, low-level waste, and decommissioning of l icensed facilities (license termination). The NRC capability consists of: ( 1) methodologies for performance assessment; (2) models and computer codes for estimating system performance; (3) regulatory guidance in various forms , such as regulations, Branch Technical Positions, and Standard Review Plan s; and (4) a technical staff experienced in executing and evaluating perfor mance assessments for a variety of waste systems. Although the tools and te chniques are refined for each programmatic area, general approaches and sim ilar issues are encountered in all areas.