Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) last week voiced support for consolidated interim storage of nuclear waste, while maintaining that Yucca Mountain needs to be part of the long-term solution.
Alexander, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, along with panel Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), introduced in the fiscal 2017 Senate energy and water budget bill language supporting the Energy Department’s interim storage efforts. Congress has yet to approve final funding for the current budget year that began Oct. 1, instead in September approving a continuing resolution through Dec. 9.
“The Department of Energy’s decision to proceed with interim storage for used nuclear fuel, which was recommended four years ago by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, is an important step forward,” Alexander said in a statement. “I hope Congress will take the next step and pass bipartisan legislation I have introduced to create temporary and permanent facilities to store and dispose of our used nuclear fuel, and authorize a new pilot program for nuclear waste storage.”
The Obama administration canceled the Yucca Mountain geologic repository in Nevada in 2011, eventually opting instead for a consent-based siting initiative for nuclear waste storage. DOE’s plans call for operation of a pilot storage facility by 2021; one or more larger, interim facilities by 2025; and at least one permanent geologic repository by 2048.
“We need to move on all tracks at the same time to solve the nuclear waste stalemate to help ensure that carbon-free nuclear power has a strong future in this country,” Alexander added. “Yucca Mountain can and should be part of the solution, but we have more than enough waste to fill Yucca Mountain to its legal capacity (of about 77,000 tons).”
DOE Releases Draft RFI for Private Storage Development
DOE is soliciting feedback to help determine what role private interim storage facilities could play in a comprehensive solution to managing the United States’ spent nuclear fuel.
A Federal Register notice posted last week calls on potential host and neighboring communities to these sites, potential interim storage facility operators, and existing nuclear waste facility operators for feedback. DOE is weighing both pilot-scale and larger-scale private facilities. Responses are due by Jan. 27
“Although not envisioned in the Administration’s Strategy, [private initiatives] represent a potentially promising alternative that can be used either solely or in addition to federal facilities for consolidated interim storage,” the department’s request for information reads.
Private company Waste Control Specialists has submitted its NRC application for a 40,000-metric-ton-capacity interim storage facility in West Texas, while Holtec International is eyeing a March submittal date for a 120,000-metric-ton capacity facility about 12 miles away from DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. The Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Group also plans on submitting an application to the NRC for an in-state storage facility in South Carolina, though that concept is far less developed than the other two.
The RFI lists 12 questions. Those questions concern the role of private facilities in a community, federal involvement and potential supporting agencies, benefits of a private site versus a public site, spent fuel management logistics, business models, state and local authorizations, and process transparency.
Responses can be emailed to PrivateISF@hq.doe.gov with the subject line, “Response to the RFI on Private Initiatives to Develop Consolidated SNF Storage Facilities.” DOE requested that responses be limited to about 15 pages. Questions about the draft RFI also can be sent to the same address.
