DOE must demonstrate that there is a reasonable expectation that, for 10,000 years of undisturbed performance after disposal, releases of radionuclides from waste in the Yucca Mountain disposal system into the accessible environment will not cause the level of radioactivity in the representative volume of ground water to exceed the limits in the following Table 1:
Table 1--Limits on Radionuclides in the Representative Volume------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is natural
Radionuclide or type of Limit background
radiation emitted included?------------------------------------------------------------------------Combined radium-226 and radium- 5 picocuries per liter Yes.
228.
Gross alpha activity 15 picocuries per Yes.
(including radium-226 but liter.
excluding radon and uranium).Combined beta and photon 0.04 mSv (4 mrem) per No.
emitting radionuclides. year to the whole
body or any organ,
based on drinking 2
liters of water per
day from the
representative volume.------------------------------------------------------------------------