Group items tagged

If no federal repository for spent nuclear fuel is opened in the next 100 years, the nation's taxpayers could be on the hook to pay for on-site storage, such as the dry casks at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. That cost could run anywhere between $10 billion and $26 billion. That was the conclusion of the Government Accounting Office, which just released a report on the costs of nuclear waste management -- whether it be a long-term repository, centralized storage or on-site storage. The United States has 70,000 tons of waste stored at 80 sites in 35 states. By 2055, the amount of waste is expected to increase to 153,000 tons. The GAO also conducted a scenario in which fuel stays on site for 500 years. It concluded the cost for that scenario could range between $34 billion to $225 billion.

If no federal repository for spent nuclear fuel is opened in the next 100 years, the nation's taxpayers could be on the hook to pay for on-site storage, such as the dry casks at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. That cost could run anywhere between $10 billion and $26 billion. That was the conclusion of the Government Accounting Office, which just released a report on the costs of nuclear waste management -- whether it be a long-term repository, centralized storage or on-site storage. The United States has 70,000 tons of waste stored at 80 sites in 35 states. By 2055, the amount of waste is expected to increase to 153,000 tons. The GAO also conducted a scenario in which fuel stays on site for 500 years. It concluded the cost for that scenario could range between $34 billion to $225 billion.

Consideration of Environmental Impacts of Temporary Storage of Spent Fuel After Cessation of Reactor Operation SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to revise its generic determination on the environmental impacts of storage of spent fuel at, or away from, reactor sites after the expiration of reactor operating licenses. The proposed revision reflects findings that the Commission has reached in the ``Waste Confidence'' decision update published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. The Commission now proposes to find that, if necessary, spent fuel generated in any reactor can be stored safely and without significant environmental impacts beyond the licensed life for operation (which may include the term of a revised or renewed license) of that reactor at its spent fuel storage basin or at either onsite or offsite independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) until a disposal facility can reasonably be expected to be available.

Saying there are growing uncertainties about US nuclear waste policy, the governors of 19 states adopted a resolution Sunday that seeks to deter the Obama administration and private energy companies from building any interim storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel in the Western US. The resolution, adopted at a meeting of the Western Governors' Association in Park City, Utah, says it appears "increasingly likely" that the administration of US President Barack Obama will propose establishing one or more centralized interim storage facilities for spent fuel from US nuclear power plants. But the 19 western governors, many of whom staunchly oppose having nuclear waste sent to their states, said in their resolution that no such interim storage facility shall be built in a western state without the written consent of the governor. "The creation of interim storage sites would be a direct result of the federal government's failure to begin accepting spent fuel on schedule," the resolution says.

The Sept. 13 editorial keeps up the drumbeat of The News to open Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste storage. Editorial page opinions in the past presented arguments both pro and con for nuclear power and the storage of its high-level toxic waste. Certainly there are justified concerns about the long-term storage of this waste. Those concerns have been expressed by trustworthy people in science and industry with no ax to grind. Advertisement This editorial spoke to a seldom expressed concern of ours, "The Yucca Mountain site could spur the expansion of nuclear power throughout the nation." As a consequence of this the need for more sites like Yucca Mountain could be increased as need for waste storage grows.

MANITOWOC - Lawmakers have asked federal regulators to investigate concerns of residents living near two nuclear plants about the storage of nuclear waste in their backyard. Advertisement Point Beach Nuclear Plant, in Two Creeks, and Kewaunee Power Station, in Carlton, currently or plan to store spent nuclear fuel rods in dry cask storage bunkers at their facilities along Lake Michigan. The dry storage is being used because of dwindling space in pool storage inside the plants and delays in opening the federal government's national repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Perhaps the most distinctive building near N Reactor, the "golf ball," should be rubble by the end of today. The building, which looks like a large, white golf ball half buried in the sand, was used as a waste treatment facility for the piping system at N Reactor. It stands about 20 feet high and has a diameter of 35 feet. Washington Closure Hanford also is making progress at the cooling water building on the banks of the Columbia River. It filtered water from N Reactor's fuel storage basins, which stored highly radioactive fuel rods. Two sand filter tanks, each weighing about 60,000 pounds, have been removed from the building.

Pantex could reach storage capacity for plutonium weapons cores and retired nuclear warheads awaiting dismantlement by as early as 2014, two government reports reveal. A federal official said the National Nuclear Security Administration may have to re-evaluate Pantex storage issues if President Obama orders further arms cuts, but the plant has no plan to exceed plutonium storage limits outlined in a 1997 environmental impact statement. The Pantex Site Office instead has asked contractor B&W Pantex to develop a backup plan in case funding isn't available before 2013 to build a massive new underground warehouse for special nuclear materials, according to a report this month from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a watchdog agency that monitors safety issues at Pantex and other sites.

Two US communities are exploring the possibility of becoming the site of a commercial interim storage facility for utility spent nuclear fuel, according to the official leading the industry's site search. Officials from each of the small, rural communities wanted to continue looking at a commercial storage facility after touring dry storage installations at two nuclear plants in June, Marshall Cohen, the Nuclear Energy Institute's senior director of legislative programs, said in an interview Wednesday.

Jordan and the United States have signed a contract for the construction of a modern central storage facility (CSF) for radioactive waste at the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission ((JAEC) in Amman. JAEC Nuclear Fuel Cycle Commissioner Ned Xoubi and Daniel Rutherford, contract manager at the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory signed the agreement in Washington, DC last week, according to a statement released by the Jordanian embassy in the US. Under the contract agreement, the US Department of Energy will provide the JAEC with $370,000 for the construction of the advanced storage facility. Expected to be completed later this year, the storage facility will host Jordan's radioactive waste and nuclear sources in a safe and secure environment for the next five decades.

Albertans could face a significantly higher risk of radioactive exposure due to storage transportation, say opponents of a proposal to build a nuclear power station in the Peace Country. Canada is still 20 to 30 years away from completing a national storage facility, which according to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) would see spent fuel rods from across Canada being shipped to one central underground storage location.

Albertans could face a significantly higher risk of radioactive exposure due to storage transportation, say opponents of a proposal to build nuclear power station in the Peace Country. Canada is still 20 to 30 years away from completing a national storage facility project, which according to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) would see spent fuel rods from across Canada being shipped to one central underground storage location.

WASHINGTON - In another sign of Congress' increasing frustration with the slow pace of the Yucca Mountain project, a longtime nuclear advocate today announced an effort to have the private sector help the Energy Department develop interim nuclear waste storage sites separate from Nevada. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, has put forward a bill that would allow $1 billion annually from the fund designated for Yucca Mountain to instead go for developing nuclear recycling and interim waste storage sites run by public-private ventures.

Residents living next to the grounds of University Hospital Galway have vowed to oppose plans to locate a new storage facility for radioactive waste within metres of their homes. The Newcastle Park residents have expressed alarm at plans to turn a disused pumphouse, just over their backwalls, into a 17.2 square metre storage facility.

If all goes according to plan, Florida Power & Light later this year will begin building a storage facility for nuclear waste more than two stories above ground at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant. Under the plan, the company would house in dry storage 16 cubic feet of radioactive waste-the equivalent of some 2 million pounds accumulated since the first reactor fired up in 1972. Plans for the dry cask storage facility have sparked controversy because the project has not been aired at public hearings. Instead, the project was moved along quickly and quietly, with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) granting certification on May 18, roughly six weeks after receiving FPL's application and without an opportunity for public input. Without fanfare, the approval slipped the notice of interested parties such as the Sierra Club, the Tropical Audubon Society and Clean Water Action. Miami-Dade County officials and environmentalists maintain the utility company and the regulatory agency did an end run to avoid public scrutiny.

Regardless of whether Canada's nuclear waste gets sent to New Brunswick for long-term storage, the radioactive material would never-the-less be transported through the province by way of truck, train or boat to such a facility, says the group responsible for finding a storage site. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization says the issue of transporting used nuclear fuel from reactors across the country to one main underground storage facility is a major part of their site selection process, and they want to hear from the public about their methods and procedure. The organization held a public information meeting yesterday in Fredericton, the first in a series of provincial meetings about the process of selecting a site. Similar public meetings will take place today in Edmundston and Saint John, with another scheduled June 18 in Bathurst.

The Zvezdochka shipyard in northern Russia said on Friday that a recent minor radioactive leak at its storage facility posed no threat to people or environment. According to a Zvezdochka statement, the "radiation incident" took place on Thursday when about two cubic meters liquid radioactive waste leaked through a seam in a pipe connecting a storage tank and a waste treatment facility. "The pipe itself is located in a leak-proof tunnel and the waste did not spill outside," the statement said, adding that the tunnel has been drained of the waste in two hours following the leak. "The radiation levels around the tunnel are normal. The causes of the leak are being investigated," the shipyard said. Severodvinsk-based Zvezdochka is Russia's biggest shipyard for repairing and dismantling nuclear-powered submarines. It has the capacity to scrap up to four nuclear submarines per year.

The Zvezdochka shipyard in northern Russia said on Friday that a recent minor radioactive leak at its storage facility posed no threat to people or environment. According to a Zvezdochka statement, the "radiation incident" took place on Thursday when about two cubic meters liquid radioactive waste leaked through a seam in a pipe connecting a storage tank and a waste treatment facility. "The pipe itself is located in a leak-proof tunnel and the waste did not spill outside," the statement said, adding that the tunnel has been drained of the waste in two hours following the leak. "The radiation levels around the tunnel are normal. The causes of the leak are being investigated," the shipyard said. Severodvinsk-based Zvezdochka is Russia's biggest shipyard for repairing and dismantling nuclear-powered submarines. It has the capacity to scrap up to four nuclear submarines per year.

While the fate of America's Yucca Mountain appears to be sealed, Finnish company Posiva is moving forward with a cutting-edge nuclear waste storage facility that it claims will safely store radioactive waste in drums deep in the ground for 100,000 years. While challenges abound, a green light from the Finnish government expected by 2012 will make the site on Finland's Olkiluoto Island the first permanent nuclear waste repository in the world, opening the door for more to follow. The task is not a small one, however. First, Posiva carved nearly 16,500 feet of tunnels, collecting borehole samples along the way to ensure that the bedrock is solid and that water -- a nuclear waste repository's biggest enemy -- cannot get in. Then they had to figure out how to create the nearly 29-ton copper storage bins lined with iron and sealed with a weld so precise that it will hold through Finland's next ice age.

While the fate of America's Yucca Mountain appears to be sealed, Finnish company Posiva is moving forward with a cutting-edge nuclear waste storage facility that it claims will safely store radioactive waste in drums deep in the ground for 100,000 years. While challenges abound, a green light from the Finnish government expected by 2012 will make the site on Finland's Olkiluoto Island the first permanent nuclear waste repository in the world, opening the door for more to follow. The task is not a small one, however. First, Posiva carved nearly 16,500 feet of tunnels, collecting borehole samples along the way to ensure that the bedrock is solid and that water -- a nuclear waste repository's biggest enemy -- cannot get in. Then they had to figure out how to create the nearly 29-ton copper storage bins lined with iron and sealed with a weld so precise that it will hold through Finland's next ice age.

Gov. Gary Herbert and the U.S. Energy Department hammered out a deal Thursday that lets a trainload of depleted uranium come to Utah but only for temporary storage -- for now. Planned additional shipments of the low-level radioactive waste from the government's cleanup of the Savannah River, South Carolina, bomb-making facility are suspended pending a Utah site-safety review that is under way. "We simply will not accept any more depleted uranium for storage in this state until we are convinced that we have addressed all the safety parameters," said Herbert. The governor was unable to convince Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday to halt the shipment, but he called Thursday's agreement a "reasonable compromise." The 5,408 barrels of DU, as the waste is called, already on the way could only go into the ground for permanent disposal after the state completes its site-safety review. Herbert secured the agreement two days after the first of three shipments began rolling from South Carolina on train cars headed for Utah.

Gov. Gary Herbert and the U.S. Energy Department hammered out a deal Thursday that lets a trainload of depleted uranium come to Utah but only for temporary storage -- for now. Planned additional shipments of the low-level radioactive waste from the government's cleanup of the Savannah River, South Carolina, bomb-making facility are suspended pending a Utah site-safety review that is under way. "We simply will not accept any more depleted uranium for storage in this state until we are convinced that we have addressed all the safety parameters," said Herbert. The governor was unable to convince Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday to halt the shipment, but he called Thursday's agreement a "reasonable compromise." The 5,408 barrels of DU, as the waste is called, already on the way could only go into the ground for permanent disposal after the state completes its site-safety review. Herbert secured the agreement two days after the first of three shipments began rolling from South Carolina on train cars headed for Utah.

"An association based in Switzerland is helping its European neighbours in their search for a good place to dump nuclear waste. Ten nations have enlisted the aid of Baden-based Arius, or Association for Regional and International Underground Storage. They hope to consolidate their radioactive waste within a single location. The countries in question include Austria, Ireland, Italy and seven others - but not Switzerland. In 2006, the federal government enacted a ten-year moratorium on the export of nuclear waste - the storage of which is the producers' responsibility."

Nearly 10,000 barrels of nuclear waste will be moved again in the Woomera prohibited area, to a more suitable storage facility. The Defence Department is planning to move the barrels a few kilometres from where they are stored in an old aircraft hangar, to an explosives storage building. David Noonan from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says the Federal Government needs to find a permanent site for the waste.

Nearly 10,000 barrels of nuclear waste will be moved again in the Woomera prohibited area, to a more suitable storage facility. The Defence Department is planning to move the barrels a few kilometres from where they are stored in an old aircraft hangar, to an explosives storage building. David Noonan from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says the Federal Government needs to find a permanent site for the waste.