The American Nuclear Society (ANS) has written Energy Secretary Chris Wright with recommendations for the Department of Energy to implement in creating a national policy for nuclear waste management.
Hash Hashemian, ANS president, and Craig Piercy, ANS executive director and CEO, outlined the spent fuel recommendations in an Oct. 9 letter.
“ANS appreciates that your administration recognizes the value of nuclear technology in supporting U.S. energy and national security goals,” Hashemian and Piercy wrote. “We hope these recommendations are useful to you and your department as you identify and implement programs that will shape the nuclear enterprise for decades to come.”
ANS has not received a formal response but is optimistic that progress will be made in the near future, an ANS spokesperson told Exchange Monitor Thursday.
There were five general recommendations made and three specific ones to DOE. Of the recommendations, ANS suggested DOE establish a “credible project” to identify and develop one or more geologic repositories.
Other countries such as Canada, France and Sweden are making progress in nuclear waste management, including fuel recycling, while the United States is stagnant, the American Nuclear Society officials said.
After the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada during the Barack Obama administration, the country needs another option, the ANS officials said.
“Consistent with current law, the administration should point this reality out to Congress by revising and reissuing DOE/RW-0595,” Hashemian and Piercy said. “This will encourage Congress to work with the Administration and stakeholders to take responsible action on geologic disposal of radioactive waste in the U.S.”
DOE/RW-0595 was a 2008 report sent to Congress and the president explored alternative options for national waste management in the event Yucca Mountain reached 70,000 metric tons of heavy metal. A second repository was one option considered in the report.
ANS wrote the letter in response to President Donald Trump administration’s executive order, Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base, particularly the section of strengthening the domestic nuclear fuel cycle.
The executive action ordered that the energy secretary, in coordination with other top officials, submit a report within 240 days to the president addressing prominent nuclear fuel cycle concerns.
ANS was also one of several groups that signed a joint letter sent to Wright in July also related to the back end of the fuel cycle.