Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options

Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options PDF Author: Mark Holt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for a permanent underground repository for highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear reactors, but delays have pushed back the facility’s opening date to 2010 at the earliest. In the meantime, spent fuel is accumulating at U.S. nuclear plant sites at the rate of about 2,000 metric tons per year. Major options for managing those growing quantities of nuclear spent fuel include continued storage at reactors, construction of a DOE interim storage site near Yucca Mountain, and licensing of private storage facilities. Arguments for development of a federal interim storage facility include DOE legal obligations, long-term costs, and public controversy over new on-site storage facilities. Opposition to centralized storage centers on the potential risks of a large-scale nuclear waste transportation campaign.

Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options

Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options PDF Author: Mark Holt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for a permanent underground repository for highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear reactors, but delays have pushed back the facility’s opening date to 2010 at the earliest. In the meantime, spent fuel is accumulating at U.S. nuclear plant sites at the rate of about 2,000 metric tons per year. Major options for managing those growing quantities of nuclear spent fuel include continued storage at reactors, construction of a DOE interim storage site near Yucca Mountain, and licensing of private storage facilities. Arguments for development of a federal interim storage facility include DOE legal obligations, long-term costs, and public controversy over new on-site storage facilities. Opposition to centralized storage centers on the potential risks of a large-scale nuclear waste transportation campaign.

Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options

Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Highly radioactive spent fuel has been accumulating in pools of water at commercial reactors since the early years of the U.S. nuclear power industry. Originally it was expected that spent fuel would be removed from reactor sites to be dissolved in reprocessing plants to extract uranium and plutonium for use in new fuel. When the United States abandoned commercial reprocessing in the mid-1970s, a new policy had to be developed for spent fuel disposal. The result was the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), which required the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a permanent underground repository for spent nuclear fuel by January 1998. The multibillion-dollar cost of the program was to be covered by a fee on nuclear power. Development of such a repository has fallen years behind schedule. DOE, which is investigating a proposed repository site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, does not expect to be able to begin taking waste from reactor sites before 2010. NWPA currently forbids DOE from building an interim storage facility for spent fuel until construction of a permanent repository is licensed. As a result, nuclear power plants may have to store spent fuel much longer than originally planned. By the end of the decade, according to DOE, about a third of the nationâ€TMs commercial reactors will need additional storage capacity to supplement their spent fuel pools. Such additional capacity would probably be in the form of dry storage facilities, which are more efficient and less costly than spent fuel pools. Nuclear utilities and state regulators are urging Congress to authorize construction of an interim spent fuel storage facility near the Nevada repository site that could begin receiving waste as soon as possible after 1998. Supporters of that plan contend that storage at reactor sites should be minimized because of concerns about safety, costs, public controversy, and the future of nuclear power. They maintain also that DOE faces legal sanctions under NWPA if waste is not taken from reactor sites by 1998. Opponents counter that continued storage at reactor sites would be less expensive than building a central storage facility and would reduce unnecessary transportation risks. Alternatives to federal interim storage that might be considered include measures to mitigate the problems with long-term storage at reactor sites, such as reducing the nuclear waste fees paid by nuclear utilities and eliminating regulatory obstacles to the expansion of on-site storage capacity. Private central storage facilities have also been proposed; a utility consortium has applied for a license for such a facility on the Utah reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes. Another option that has been suggested is overseas storage and reprocessing of some U.S. commercial spent fuel.

Setting the Stage for International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities

Setting the Stage for International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309119618
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
In May 2003, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academies organized an international workshop in Moscow on the scientific issues relevant to the establishment and operation of an international spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Russia. Given the broad international interest in this topic, the academies organized a second international workshop on important issues that were not on the agenda or were not adequately discussed at the first workshop. These issues included international monitoring at the facility, transportation requirements, liability and insurance concerns, and status of Russian legislation and regulations that are important in locating and operating a facility. Relevant experience from Europe, the United States, and Asia was also considered in this 2005 workshop. This book contains the papers presented at the 2005 workshop sessions, as well as proceedings from the 2003 workshop. Together they provide an overview of the issues, and useful background for those organizations and individuals involved in further development of an international spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Russia.

Guidebook on Spent Fuel Storage Options and Systems

Guidebook on Spent Fuel Storage Options and Systems PDF Author: IAEA
Publisher: International Atomic Energy Agency
ISBN: 9201357230
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
This publication is a new edition of Technical Reports Series No. 240, Guidebook on Spent Fuel Storage (1991). It aims to provide guidance on spent fuel storage options, describing the history and observed trends of spent fuel storage technologies, gathering operational experiences and lessons learned. The evolving aspects related to higher burnup and mixed oxide (MOX) spent fuel, and the extension of storage timeframes are detailed. It also includes information on the distribution of the current global inventory of spent fuel by storage systems, a description of (and terminology relating to) available spent fuel storage technologies and different storage facility locations.

Implementation Plan for Deployment of Federal Interim Storage Facilities for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel

Implementation Plan for Deployment of Federal Interim Storage Facilities for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear facilities
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description


Guidebook on Spent Fuel Storage

Guidebook on Spent Fuel Storage PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
This guidebook is a revised version of Technical Reports Series No. 240, published in 1984. It provides a summary of the experience and information in many areas related to spent fuel storage. It will allow a better understanding of the many problems involved and permit countries that are planning for or operating nuclear power reactors to review the issues in a more informative manner. In view of the large quantity of spent fuel discharged from nuclear power plants, long term storage is currently the primary option for the management of spent fuel. The proven wet storage concept is expected to continue to be used in the future. The design and the technological, economic and material problems of safe spent fuel storage will remain a focus of attention, with particular emphasis on dry storage technology, rod consolidation and other advanced concepts.

Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage

Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage PDF Author: Committee on the Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309165199
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
In response to a request from Congress, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Homeland Security sponsored a National Academies study to assess the safety and security risks of spent nuclear fuel stored in cooling pools and dry casks at commercial nuclear power plants. The information provided in this book examines the risks of terrorist attacks using these materials for a radiological dispersal device. Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel is an unclassified public summary of a more detailed classified book. The book finds that successful terrorist attacks on spent fuel pools, though difficult, are possible. A propagating fire in a pool could release large amounts of radioactive material, but rearranging spent fuel in the pool during storage and providing emergency water spray systems would reduce the likelihood of a propagating fire even under severe damage conditions. The book suggests that additional studies are needed to better understand these risks. Although dry casks have advantages over cooling pools, pools are necessary at all operating nuclear power plants to store at least the recently discharged fuel. The book explains it would be difficult for terrorists to steal enough spent fuel to construct a significant radiological dispersal device.

Federal Facilities for Storing Spent Nuclear Fuel, are They Needed?

Federal Facilities for Storing Spent Nuclear Fuel, are They Needed? PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government property
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description


Spent Fuel Storage Options

Spent Fuel Storage Options PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear fuels
Languages : en
Pages : 518

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Book Description


An International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility

An International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility PDF Author: Russian Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309181186
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
As part of a long-standing collaboration on nuclear nonproliferation, the National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences held a joint workshop in Moscow in 2003 on the scientific aspects of an international radioactive disposal site in Russia. The passage of Russian laws permitting the importation and storage of high-level radioactive material (primarily spent nuclear fuel from reactors) has engendered interest from a number of foreign governments, including the U.S., in exploring the possibility of transferring material to Russia on a temporary or permanent basis. The workshop focused on the environmental aspects of the general location and characteristics of a possible storage site, transportation to and within the site, containers for transportation and storage, inventory and accountability, audits and inspections, and handling technologies.