Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it has been years since any U.S. company has expressed interest in developing spent fuel reprocessing or recycling capabilities.
“I think in 2009, the agency received some expressions of interest from potential developers of reprocessing capability in the United States,” NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “I would say, though, that in the last number of years since then we as a regulator have not heard any expressions of anyone interested in developing.”
Svinicki said a “potential industry developer” – which she did not identify, but was later said to be AREVA – in 2009 asked about whether the NRC could update existing regulations on spent fuel reprocessing and recycling. But the company had already seemingly lost interest interest before the NRC could even begin such an update, she said.
France, Japan, and other nations conduct spent fuel reprocessing, which can recover unused plutonium and uranium for subsequent nuclear power production and reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal.
“In the three years I’ve been on the commission it’s not something I’ve heard anyone propose to move in that direction, which may be a reflection of low uranium prices,” Commissioner Jeff Baran said.
More than 75,000 metric tons of spent fuel is now stored on-site at nuclear power plants spread across the United States. The U.S. Energy Department has focused on developing a permanent disposal repository for the waste, with the Trump administration trying to revive the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada more than seven years after the Obama administration suspended the project.
In a broad-ranging hearing on oversight of the regulatory agency, all three sitting commissioners – Svinicki, Baran, and Stephen Burns – answered questions on topics including NRC budgeting and staffing, the Project Aim rightsizing program, workforce morale, development of advanced nuclear reactors, and nuclear plant decommissioning.