The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has determined that a federal consolidated interim storage facility is needed to help manage the nation’s commercial spent nuclear fuel.
The location of the facility would be selected through the DOE consent-based siting process that puts communities’ interests at the forefront.
The project would ultimately reduce the number of locations where commercial spent nuclear fuel is stored and begin to ease the financial liability for U.S. taxpayers.
Federal Consolidated Interim Storage
The Department recently approved Critical Decision-0 (CD-0) for the Federal Consolidated Interim Storage Facility project. CD-0 is the first step of a process that DOE uses to manage capital asset projects and determines a mission need for the agency.
The project would cover the removal of commercial spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plant sites where it’s currently stored, transporting it, and temporarily storing the fuel at a centralized location.
The facility would be licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and initially built to store around 15,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel, with options to expand—taking a big step forward in fulfilling the Department’s responsibility to take ownership of the fuel.
“This milestone is more than just a procedural step; it is the first step in our strategic vision to meet our contractual commitments and advance the nation’s nuclear energy infrastructure,” said Paul Murray, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and High-Level Waste Disposition.
The project also includes the development of new modern railcars for transporting the spent nuclear fuel to the consolidated interim storage facility.
DOE wrapped up final testing on the 12-axle Atlas railcar last year, which is expected to be cleared for operations this summer by the Association of American Railroads.
What about the Spent Nuclear Fuel?
To date, U.S. reactors have generated 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel since the 1950s, which is safely and securely stored at more than 70 nuclear power plant sites across the country.
Twenty of these sites no longer have nuclear power reactors in operation and it is DOE’s contractual obligation under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) to dispose of this spent nuclear fuel.
Consistent with existing congressional appropriations, DOE is pursuing a consent-based process to site one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities in the United States until a permanent disposal solution is available.
The Department published a consent-based process and funded the consent-based siting consortia to facilitate inclusive community engagement and elicit public feedback on the process, the management of spent nuclear fuel, and federal consolidated interim storage.
Subject to appropriations, the Federal Consolidated Interim Storage Facility project will start developing conceptual facility designs for such a facility as DOE’s consent-based siting process moves toward seeking willing and informed communities to host one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities.
Construction and operation of a federal consolidated interim storage facility will require that the NWPA be amended to allow those phases of the project to move forward.
