PHOENIX – The chair of an industry working group on waste management hopes sponsors of new nuclear projects will soon start sharing details on how they plan to deal with the resulting waste.
“We have got SMRs [small modular reactors] … popping up, micro reactors, uranium enrichment, spent fuel recycle, “ said Firewater President and Owner Renee Echols at the Waste Management Symposia. “There has got to be some really cool waste coming out of some of that, don’t y’all think.”
“So anyway, I’m like a chihuahua chewing on their ankles saying ‘let us help,’” Echols said, referring to those planning new projects.
Echols leads a working group on waste management for the Energy Facilities Contractor Operating Group (EFCOG). EFCOG represents companies working in the Department of Energy’s nuclear waste complex. She made her comments during a roundtable discussion on waste issues Thursday at the symposia in Downtown Phoenix.
“You know, every company that you have ever heard of in the world is part of an LLC [limited Liability Corporation] to build something,” such as an SMR, Echols said. Echols said she heard from Nuclear Regulatory Commission member David Wright that applications for as many as 78 new nuclear energy projects might be filed in the coming years.
“If you think about that , that’s kind of overwhelming but cool in the waste world,” Echols said.
During the discussion, EFCOG and DOE officials mentioned the possibility of developing some type of briefing paper for newcomers to waste regulations overseen by DOE.