DOE MOVES AHEAD WITH NEW USED FUEL PROCESSING MISSIONS AT H-CANYON

The Department of Energy has issued an amended Record of Decision that paves the way for the processing of additional spent fuel in the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon facility, including about 1,000 bundles of used fuel stored at the site’s L-Basin. The aging fuel storage pool is filling up fast with domestic and foreign research reactor fuel, and is projected to reach its storage capacity in 2016. “The amended ROD will enable DOE to process the minimum quantity of used nuclear fuel (UNF) from L-Basin in H-Canyon through 2018 necessary to accommodate future receipts of Foreign Research Reactor (FRR) and Domestic Research Reactor (DRR) spent nuclear fuel,” according to a DOE release, which notes that processing the fuel will allow DOE to avoid a $40 million cost to expand L-Basin. The approximately 3.3 metric tons of material will be downblended for use in commercial nuclear reactors.  

The amended ROD also includes another step forward in planned shipments of liquid highly enriched uranium from Canada’s Chalk River Laboratories. The project would involve shipping 23,000 liters of material left over from the production of the medical isotope molybdenum-99 to Savannah River, and falls under the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative. The downblended material would also be used in commercial reactors. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited “is fully funding the necessary activities for receipt and processing of the U.S. origin HEU,” which adds up to $60 million over four years, according to DOE spokeswoman Amy Caver.