Presented at the NEI Used Fuel Management Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, May 7-9, 2013
This paper, prepared to aid the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future in its
deliberations, includes a discussion of the issues that would be faced in the siting, permitting and
licensing of storage and disposal facilities for the “back end” of the commercial nuclear fuel
cycle and for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) high–level radioactive waste. It discusses the
authority that could be employed by non–federal levels of government in supporting or opposing
The purpose of this model report is to describe the evolution of the physical and chemical environmental conditions within the waste emplacement drifts of the repository, including the drip shield and waste package surfaces. This report documents the development of a new process-level model, the near-field chemistry (NFC) model, and develops two abstraction models.
The Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report prescribes an approach to the methodology for performing postclosure criticality analyses within the monitored geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. An essential component of the methodology is the Configuration Generator Model for In-Package Criticality that provides a tool to evaluate the probabilities of degraded configurations achieving a critical state.
Presented at the NEI Used Fuel Management Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, May 7-9, 2013
Presented at the NEI Used Fuel Management Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, May 7-9, 2013
This new report from the National Research Council’s Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NRSB) and the Transportation Research Board reviews the risks and technical and societal concerns for the transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States. Shipments are expected to increase as the U.S. Department of Energy opens a repository for spent fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, and the commercial nuclear industry considers constructing a facility in Utah for temporary storage of spent fuel from some of its nuclear waste plants.
This report highlights the findings and conclusions of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) and presents recommendations for consideration by the Administration and Congress, as well as interested state, tribal and local governments, other stakeholders, and the public.
The voluntary siting process for the Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility set forth in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (NWPAA) of 1987 provides a potential host community a unique opportunity to improve its present situation and to gain greater control over its future.
Presentation slides on the Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Reference Design Concept, including site plans; handling, inspection and repackaging concepts and facilities; and cost and staffing estimates.
The question of whether centralized storage of civilian spent nuclear fuel (SNF) should be part of the federal waste management system as an intermediate step before permanent disposal has been debated for more than four decades. Centralized storage facilities were included as a potential component of the U.S. spent fuel management system in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), but the NWPA did not identify these facilities as being essential.
Video of the Atlas Railcar traveling over the Ft. Steele Bridge Crossing
Consent-based siting is an approach that seeks communities’ willing and informed consent to accept new development or host a project in their area. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is using a consent-based siting process to identify one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, a byproduct of nuclear power generation. Spent nuclear fuel is currently stored at more than 70 sites across the country in communities that did not agree to host the material long term.
Video of the recently completed 1,600-mile round-trip journey from Colorado to Idaho to wrap up final testing on the Atlas railcar.
The Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste is a framework for moving toward a sustainable program to deploy an integrated system capable of transporting, storing, and disposing of used nuclear fuel1 and high-level radioactive waste from civilian nuclear power generation, defense, national security and other activities.
Despite being safely transported in the U.S. for more than half a century, many still believe spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is too dangerous to transport. But, in reality, it’s a well-coordinated process with a great track record—and we have the facts to prove it.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (the Commission) was chartered to recommend a new strategy for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The strategy in this report has eight key elements: 1. A new, consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities. 2. A new organization dedicated solely to implementing the waste management program and empowered with the authority and resources to succeed. 3. Access to the funds nuclear utility ratepayers are providing for the purpose of nuclear waste management. 4.
The U.S. Department of Energy is pursuing one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities to store the nation's commercial spent nuclear fuel in the near-term using a multistage consent-based approach that puts communities' interest at the forefront.
NRC's "Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel" includes a short discussion of "What We Regulate"; "How We Regulate"; and links to related information.
The Congressional Research Service prepared a report in August titled "Civilian Nuclear Waste Disposal." It contains a summary of the radioactive waste management program, and includes an update with recent developments on YM licensing, consent based siting, legislation, volunteer private storage sites, and current policy.
What is Consent-Based Siting?
Consent-based siting is an approach that seeks the willing and informed consent of people and communities to host a project in their area. This process is designed to be flexible, adaptive, and responsive to community concerns.
How is DOE using Consent-Based Siting? How can people and communities participate?
This tool is intended to allow users to explore and produce reports on census tracts that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has categorized as disadvantaged communities, or DACs, pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 14008 - Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
This document summarizes comments received on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Draft Consent-Based Siting Process for Consolidated Storage and Disposal Facilities for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste (referred to throughout this document as the Draft Consent-Based Siting Process). DOE published a request for public comment on the Draft Consent-Based Siting Process in the Federal Register on January 13, 2017 (82 FR 4333).
This report provides information on the inventory of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the United States located at Nuclear Power Reactor and Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation sites, as well as SNF and reprocessing waste located at U.S. Department of Energy sites and other research and development centers as of the end of calendar year 2021.
Nuclear energy is essential to tackling climate change. Maintaining the nation’s current fleet and deploying advanced reactors is crucial in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s ambitious goals of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of the decade, 100% clean electricity by 2035, and a net-zero economy by 2050.
However, to meet those goals, progress needs to be made in the management of spent nuclear fuel. Inaction on this issue has already cost taxpayers more than $9 billion in settlements and judgments.
