Management and Disposal of U.S. Department of Energy Spent Nuclear Fuel - 19133

Conference · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2019

OSTI ID:23002946

Leslie, Bret ^[1]

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1. U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22201 (United States)

Congress created the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) in the 1987 Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (Public Law 100-203) to evaluate the technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by the Secretary of Energy to implement the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. In accordance with this mandate, the NWTRB reviewed the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to manage the inventory of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that is under its control (DOE SNF) at several facilities around the country: the Hanford Site in Washington, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho, the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, and the Fort St. Vrain independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) in Colorado. While disposal of SNF and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in a deep geologic repository remains the ultimate objective of the DOE nuclear waste management program, there is significant uncertainty about when such a repository will be constructed in the United States. Until disposal occurs, it is essential to manage DOE SNF in a way that will facilitate its eventual disposal, and it is also important to improve understanding of processes related to packaging and storage of the SNF that could affect its future transportation and disposal. The NWTRB's review, which was a multi-year effort, was documented in a report to Congress and the Secretary of Energy and is summarized here. The NWTRB reviewed the quantities and characteristics of DOE SNF at each of the four sites. It also examined DOE packaging and storage activities and plans at each of the sites. The NWTRB highlighted three main issue areas in its review. First, the review identified issues related to managing the aging of DOE SNF and the facilities used to store the DOE SNF. Second, the review addressed issues related to packaging of stored non-naval DOE SNF into a standard canister. Third, the NWTRB assessed issues that could affect disposal of DOE SNF if DOE continues to evaluate a range of repository settings. Based on the information and findings developed as part of its review, the NWTRB made six recommendations to Congress and the Secretary of Energy related to aging management, packaging, and disposal of DOE SNF. DOE has begun to address some of the NWTRB recommendations. (author)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 23002946
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--21-WM-19133
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CONTAINERS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY
NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACTS
PACKAGING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RECOMMENDATIONS
SAFETY STANDARDS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SPENT FUELS