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Title: Evaluation of Federal support of the Barnwell reprocessing plant and the Department of Energy's spent fuel storage policy

Abstract

In April 1977 the President deferred indefinitely the commercial reprocessing of nuclear spent fuel to: (1) minimize the availability of plutonium and (2) reduce the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation. To carry out the policy, the President proposed that neither Federal funding nor support should be given to complete a large commercial reprocessing facility being constructed at Barnwell, South Carolina. Later in 1977 the Department of Energy announced that the Federal Government would, at some unspecified future date, begin accepting and taking title to spent nuclear fuel that previously was to be reprocessed. GAO concludes that: (1) Federal funding of short-term research activities at the Barnwell reprocessing plant should continue until the completion of a major international study of alternative fuel cycle technologies and (2) the Department of Energy should not build a Government financed spent fuel storage facility until other alternatives are fully explored and the work of an interagency task force on waste management is completed.

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
General Accounting Office (GAO), Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
6596672
Report Number(s):
EMD-78-97
TRN: 79-000996
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; BARNWELL FUEL PROCESSING PLANT; SPENT FUEL STORAGE; GOVERNMENT POLICIES; EVALUATION; FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS; NUCLEAR FACILITIES; 050800* - Nuclear Fuels- Spent Fuels Reprocessing; 050900 - Nuclear Fuels- Transport, Handling, & Storage; 290600 - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy

Citation Formats

Staats, E. B. Evaluation of Federal support of the Barnwell reprocessing plant and the Department of Energy's spent fuel storage policy. United States: N. p., 1978. Web. doi:10.2172/6596672.
Staats, E. B. Evaluation of Federal support of the Barnwell reprocessing plant and the Department of Energy's spent fuel storage policy. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/6596672
Staats, E. B. 1978. "Evaluation of Federal support of the Barnwell reprocessing plant and the Department of Energy's spent fuel storage policy". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/6596672. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6596672.
@article{osti_6596672,
title = {Evaluation of Federal support of the Barnwell reprocessing plant and the Department of Energy's spent fuel storage policy},
author = {Staats, E. B.},
abstractNote = {In April 1977 the President deferred indefinitely the commercial reprocessing of nuclear spent fuel to: (1) minimize the availability of plutonium and (2) reduce the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation. To carry out the policy, the President proposed that neither Federal funding nor support should be given to complete a large commercial reprocessing facility being constructed at Barnwell, South Carolina. Later in 1977 the Department of Energy announced that the Federal Government would, at some unspecified future date, begin accepting and taking title to spent nuclear fuel that previously was to be reprocessed. GAO concludes that: (1) Federal funding of short-term research activities at the Barnwell reprocessing plant should continue until the completion of a major international study of alternative fuel cycle technologies and (2) the Department of Energy should not build a Government financed spent fuel storage facility until other alternatives are fully explored and the work of an interagency task force on waste management is completed.},
doi = {10.2172/6596672},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6596672}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 1978},
month = {Thu Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 1978}
}