Nuclear mattersBlue ribbon commission calls for interim off site waste storage
After deciding to stop the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project, President Obama appointed a blue Ribbon commission to examine alternatives; the first report from the commission calls for interim storage of nuclear waste not on the site of nuclear power plants, and for the creation of a new corporation to develop one or more deep geological repositories “as expeditiously as possible”
Replacement for Yucca mountain repository sought // Source: reviewjournal.com
The first full report by a presidential commission on how to deal with nuclear waste in the United States is calling for interim storage of nuclear waste not on the site of nuclear power plants. The report also calls for the creation of a new corporation to develop one or more deep geological repositories “as expeditiously as possible.”
“Put simply, this nation’s failure to come to grips with the nuclear waste issue has already proved damaging and costly and it will be more damaging and more costly the longer it continues,” the report says. President Obama appointed the commission after he announced that Yucca Mountain would not be pursued as a nuclear storage site. The 15-member commission, however, recognized that the issue of Yucca Mountain as a repository has still not been resolved, and it did not dismiss Yucca Mountain as an option.
“We simply note that regardless what happens with Yucca Mountain, the U.S. inventory of spent nuclear fuel will soon exceed the amount that can be legally emplaced at this site until a second repository is in operation. So under current law, the United States will need to find a new disposal site even if Yucca Mountain goes forward,” according to the report.
The report also says, though, that nuclear waste currently stores on site at nuclear power plants does not pose a risk to the public or the environment. The report calls for more investment to improve the procedures of on-site storing of waste.
Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), vice chair of the House committee on Space, Science and Technology, criticized the report: “The Blue Ribbon Commission has offered various proposals to fix a problem we don’t have,” he said. “The Draft Report states that the ‘American nuclear waste management program is at an impasse.’ We would not have this impasse but for the President’s politically-motivated decision to close Yucca Mountain.”
Highlights from the report’s executive summary:
The strategy we recommend in this draft report has seven key elements:
1. A new, consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities.
2. A new organization dedicated solely to implementing the waste management program and empowered with the authority and resources to succeed.
3. Access to the funds nuclear utility ratepayers are providing for the purpose of nuclear waste management.
4. Prompt efforts to develop one or more geologic disposal facilities.
5. Prompt efforts to develop one or more consolidated interim storage facilities.
6. Support for continued U.S. innovation in nuclear energy technology and for workforce development.
7. Active U.S. leadership in international efforts to address safety, waste management, nonproliferation, and security concerns.
— Read more in the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future: Draft Report to the Secretary of Energy
