Final Environmental Impact Statement, Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste, Volume 1

In the course of producing electrical power in light water reactors (LWRs), the uranium<br/>fuel accumulates fission products until the fission process is no longer efficient for power<br/>production. At that point the fuel is removed from the reactor and stored in water basins<br/>to allow radioactivity to partially decay before further disposition. This fuel is referred<br/>to as &quot;spent fuel.&quot; Although spent fuel as it is discharged from a reactor is intensely<br/>radioactive, it has been stored safely in moderate quantities for decades. Spent fuel could<br/>be reprocessed, and about 99.5% of the remaining uranium and newly formed plutonium could be<br/>recovered for reuse. However, present policy dictates that spent LWR fuel reprocessing will<br/>be indefinitely deferred because of concern that widespread separation of plutonium could<br/>lead to proliferation of nuclear weapons. As a result, spent fuel is currently stored for<br/>possible future reprocessing or disposal. Storage or disposal must be designed so that<br/>nuclear waste will not be a present or future threat to public health and safety.<br/>The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has the responsibility to develop technologies<br/>for management and disposal of certain classes of commercially generated radioactive<br/>wastes (namely high-level and transuranic). High-level waste is defined as<br/>either the aqueous solution from the first-cycle solvent extraction, where spent fuel is<br/>reprocessed for recycle of uranium and plutonium, or spent fuel if disposed of. High-level<br/>waste is also intensely radioactive.<br/>Other wastes are generated during reprocessing that, although larger in volume than<br/>high-level wastes, are less intensely radioactive. Wastes that contain more than a specified<br/>amount of radionuclides of atomic number greater than that of uranium are called transuranic<br/>(TRU) wastes. TRU wastes are categorized here as either remotely handled (RH) or<br/>contact-handled (CH) wastes, depending on the requirements for radiation protection of personnel.<br/>Special attention must be given to TRU wastes because they contain alpha particle emitting<br/>nuclides that are of particular concern as a result of their long half lives and<br/>tenacious retention if incorporated in the body. Other waste forms that include neither<br/>high-level nor TRU are so-called low-level wastes.<br/>The principal objective of waste disposal is to provide reasonable assurance that<br/>these wastes, in biologically significant concentrations, will be permanently isolated from<br/>the human environment. To provide input to the decision on a planning strategy for<br/>disposal of these radioactive wastes, this Statement presents an analysis of environmental<br/>impacts that could occur if various technologies for management and disposal of such wastes<br/>were to be developed and implemented.<br/>The DOE is proposing a program strategy emphasizing development of conventionally mined<br/>waste repositories, deep in the earth&#39;s geologic formations, as a means of disposing of<br/>commercially-generated high-level and TRU wastes. Adoption of this program strategy constitutes<br/>a major federal action for which the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)<br/>requires preparation of a detailed environmental impact statement (EIS).<br/>This summary highlights the major findings and conclusions of this final Statement.<br/>It reflects the public review of and comments offered on the draft Statement. Included are<br/>descriptions of the characteristics of nuclear waste, the alternative disposal methods under<br/>consideration, and potential environmental impacts and costs of implementing these methods.<br/>Because of the programmatic nature of this document and the preliminary nature of certain<br/>design elements assumed in assessing the environmental consequences of the various alternatives,<br/>this study has been based on generic, rather than specific, systems. At such time<br/>as specific facilities are identified for particular sites, statements addressing site-specific<br/>aspects will be prepared for public review and comment.