NRC Waste Confidence Contremps
The recent publicly disclosed deliberations of the NRC on the matter of revising the NRC Waste Confidence Rule, in which the NRC staff has proposed eliminating the requirement of an operating geologic repository by 2025 as a conditional basis for the NRC to derive confidence that spent fuel and high-level waste can and will be permanently disposed of, underscores the need for a sustainable nuclear fuel cycle, the importance of continuing the licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository and the imprudence of the administration’s proposed termination of Yucca Mountain repository in the absence of any Plan B or alternative approach.
Based on over 20 years of technical and scientific studies and investigations and the expenditure of over $10 billion dollars, the Yucca Mountain repository is the embodiment of the Federal Government’s commitment under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act to accept spent fuel and high-level waste from utilities and other entities and to dispose of these nuclear materials in a geologic repository.
Without Yucca Mountain, and in the absence of any credible alternative, the Federal government’s commitment to meeting its statutory and contractual obligation to accept and dispose of spent fuel and high-level waste is highly speculative. And, the recent NRC deliberations over the proposed changes to the NRC waste confidence rule demonstrates how this uncertainty can affect regulatory determinations.
Fortunately, the nuclear industry has developed safe and proven technology to store spent fuel for decades in dry cask storage which is deployed at operating nuclear plant sites. What is needed is a stable and predictable Federal government program for permanent disposal. Yucca Mountain remains the most scientifically and technically qualified repository site, and the administration would be well advised to follow the science and existing law and allow the NRC to determine whether the proposed repository would adequately protect public health and safety and the environment
Tags: NRC, nuclear energy, Nuclear Waste, Waste Confidence
