Recent developments - US spent fuel disposition
One of a US utility's major risk factors in continuing to operate a nuclear plant is managing discharged spent fuel. The US Department of Energy (DOE) signed contracts with utilities guaranteeing government acceptance of spent fuel by 1988. However, on December 17, 1992, DOE Secretary Watkins wrote to Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA), Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, indicating a reassessment of DOE's programs, the results of which will be presented to Congress in January 1993. He indicated the Department may not be able to meet the 1988 date, because of difficulty in finding a site for the Monitored Retrievable Storage facility. Watkins indicated that DOE has investigated an interim solution and decided to expedite a program to certify a multi-purpose standardized cask system for spent fuel receipt, storage, transport, and disposal. To meet the expectations of US utilities, DOE is considering a plan to use federal sites for interim storage of the casks. Secretary Watkins recommended the waste program be taken off-budget and put in a revolving fund established to ensure that money already collected from utilities will be available to meet the schedule for completion of the repository.
- OSTI ID:
- 7058058
- Journal Information:
- NUEXCO. Monthly Report to the Nuclear Industry; (United States), Vol. 293; ISSN 0742-4582
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Powerplant Fuels Conservation Act of 1980. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Energy Regulation of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-Sixth Congress, Second Session, April 23 and 25, 1980
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
SPENT FUELS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
ECONOMICS
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
SPENT FUEL CASKS
SPENT FUEL ELEMENTS
US DOE
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
CASKS
CONTAINERS
ENERGY SOURCES
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUELS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MOUNTAINS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FUELS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
STORAGE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
050800* - Nuclear Fuels- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
050900 - Nuclear Fuels- Transport
Handling
& Storage
052000 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Management