Fifteen years ago, the United States Department of Energy was directed by law to take the title to spend nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants for the purpose of permanent storage. There was suppose to be a permanent disposal site available by 1999 but no such site exists today. Currently, spent nuclear fuel is distributed across the U.S. at seventy five operating and decommissioned nuclear power plant sites in thirty three states. So far, the U.S. taxpayers have paid four and a half billion dollars because the U.S. DoE has violated contractual obligations to U.S. utilities. If the DoE does not take possession of the spent nuclear fuel by 2020, it is estimated that the cost to taxpayers will grow to twenty seven billion dollars.
In order to fulfill its contractual obligations, the DoE must have a site where it can collect, manage and dispose of spent commercial nuclear fuel. An underground geological repository in an old salt mine beneath Yucca Mountain in Nevada was mandated by law to be that permanent disposal site. However, due to issues with the movement of ground water and the question of the reliability of the initial environmental impact statement, the Obama administration and Nevada Congressmen cancelled the Yucca Mountain repository project in 2009. The U.S. government is working on securing another site for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel but the soonest an alternative site could be available would be 2050. The Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) was also created by the original legislation and has collected almost thirty billion dollars from nuclear power utilities but some of that money has been returned as a result of lawsuits.
Waste Control Specialists (WCS) has applied for a permit to construct and operates a "consolidated interim storage facility" by 2020 at an existing waste disposal site in Andrews County, Texas which already takes low-level nuclear waste. WCS would provide transportation and storage for sites around the U.S. with emphasis on dealing with spent fuel from decommissioned nuclear power reactors first. WCS has formed a partnership with AREVA, a French nuclear contractor, and NAC International (NACI) , a firm that constructs dry cask storing spent nuclear fuel, to license and develop the site. Technology supported by AREVA and NACI is currently utilized for sixty two percent of the dry cask storage in the U.S. which includes eighty percent of dry cask storage at decommissioned sites. Both companies are also leaders in the transportation of spent nuclear fuel around the world.
In order for the CISF project in Andrews Country, Texas to proceed, WCS will have to have assurances that the U.S. Secretary has the legal authority to enter into contracts with private firms such as WCS for the storage of spent nuclear fuel and other high level radioactive waste. WCS is asking for money in the Nuclear Waste Fund to be allocated for this purpose. The Senate Appropriations Committee recently included text in the annual Energy and Water Development Bill that provides for the use of NWF money to be for contracting private firms to store nuclear waste. The appropriations committees in the House and Senate will spend the next couple of months considering options for spent nuclear fuel management.
The spent nuclear fuel pools are quickly being filled at the operating nuclear power plants in the U.S. If new storage options are not in place within five years, some plants may have to be shut down. The spent fuel will either have to be stored onsite at the power plants or in a facility like the CISF in Texas. Given that the NWF exists, if it cannot be utilized for interim storage, the Fund may be depleted by lawsuits unless a solution such as the CISF can be created and funded.
Artist's concept of the consolidated interim storage facility in Andrews County, Texas:
