Nuclear waste: DOE should provide more information on monitored retrievable storage

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5083428

The Department of Energy is proposing the construction of a monitored retrievable storage facility primarily for waste preparation and packaging rather than for long-term storage as envisioned by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. While the MRS would be capable of storing spent fuel for long periods, most of the storage that would take place at the facility would be temporary until the spent fuel could be shipped to the repository. GAO does not believe that DOE's proposal is sufficiently comprehensive for the Congress to make an informed decision on the cost of, need for, or consequences of integrating an MRS into the waste management system, or whether the benefit attributed to the MRS can be better achieved by other means. The Congress needs to be aware of the consequences of not approving an MRS as well as the implications of authorizing it. DOE's proposal does not identify the most effective configuration of the authorized waste management system for the Congress to use as a basis for comparison in deciding if the benefits of the proposed MRS facility are worth its added cost to the waste program.

• Research Organization: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5083428
• Report Number(s): GAO/RCED-87-92
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

051000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DOCUMENT TYPES
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
FUELS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INFORMATION NEEDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR FUELS
PACKAGING
PACKAGING RULES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
REACTOR MATERIALS
REGULATIONS
REVIEWS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SPENT FUELS
STORAGE
STORAGE FACILITIES
TRANSPORT
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE FORMS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING PLANTS
WASTE STORAGE