The Department of Energy wants just a little bit less money in fiscal 2021 than it has now for research and development related to used nuclear fuel.
The agency’s Office of Nuclear Energy asked for $60 million for the line item within its total budget request of nearly $1.2 billion. If approved by Congress, that would be a small step down from $62.5 million enacted in the 2020 budget year that ends Sept. 30.
The proposed $2.5 million reduction “[a]ligns [the] program with Administration efforts to more efficiently manage and dispose spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste material,” according to the agency’s detailed budget justification covering the Office of Nuclear Energy.
These funds are separate from $27.5 million the Nuclear Energy office requested for its Interim Storage and Nuclear Waste Fund Oversight program. That program is intended to help develop centralized, temporary storage of spent reactor fuel now stored on-site at dozens of nuclear power plants around the nation.
Research and development activities covered under the budget request would include: destructive and nondestructive testing of nuclear fuel rods extracted from a power plant to determine “the performance baseline of stored used fuel;” ongoing efforts to determine alternative means for disposal of spent nuclear fuel, including via international research partnerships; analysis of storage, transportation, and disposal performance characteristics of newly developed accident-tolerant fuels; and assessment of dual-purpose canisters that could eliminate the need for repackaging waste ahead of final disposal.
The requests zeroes out the Integrated Waste Management System line item, shifting planning for interim storage and transportation of used fuel to the Interim Storage and Nuclear Waste Fund Oversight Program. Congress provided $25 million for the program this year.
Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal is scheduled to testify Tuesday afternoon at a Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee hearing on the DOE applied energy programs budget for fiscal 2021.
