Designing the MRS
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has completed the conceptual design for a Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) Facility. The facility will provide temporary storage for a limited quantity of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. The MRS is an integral part of a comprehensive waste-management system that will also include a transportation system and a repository, constructed deep underground, for the permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. The MRS was authorized by the Congress in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987. To help site the MRS, the Amendments Act established the independent Office of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator. The Negotiator was nominated by the President and subsequently confirmed by the Senate in August 1990. The Negotiator is seeking a voluntary host for the facility - a State or Indian Tribe that has a technically qualified site - with whom to negotiate a proposed agreement on reasonable terms. The proposed agreement will contain the specific terms and conditions upon which the State or Tribe agrees to host the MRS. If the Congress approves, the agreement will be enacted into Federal law. The volunteer host will have an important role in the development, construction, and operation of the MRS. The Negotiator has identified the mechanisms for a decision-making partnership between the Federal Government and the host during final MRS design, construction, operation, and decommissioning, as well as mechanisms for oversight by the host. Preliminary requirements for an MRS site (i.e., geology, hydrology, meteorology, ecology, etc.) have been identified. They indicate that suitable sites would exist in most parts of the continental United States. The facility will be designed, constructed, and operated with one basic requirement in mind - protecting the health and safety of both facility workers and the general public, and protecting the environment.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 10143953
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/RW--0407; ON: TI93011404; NC: NONE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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A monitored retrievable storage facility: Technical background information