HENDERSON, Nev. – Assistant Energy Secretary for Nuclear Energy Rita Baranwal on Wednesday said there is value in “parallel paths” for management of the nation’s nuclear waste, encompassing consolidated storage and a permanent repository.
Speaking at the ExchangeMonitor’s RadWaste Summit, Baranwal said she last week walked 5 miles through the planned underground disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
“It is an absolute treasure. And I hope that in my position now I can at least contribute input as we move forward in licensing,” Baranwal, who in July assumed leadership of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, said during a panel discussion on consolidated interim storage of spent nuclear reactor fuel.
Baranwal said that, in the continued absence of a repository, interim storage is an option for consideration as the Department of Energy looks to meet its legal mandate to remove spent fuel from nuclear power plants. “Even if we do get funding for Yucca it’s still a smart pathway to keep parallel efforts,” she said.
The United States today holds a stockpile of over 80,000 metric tons of spent fuel, stored on-site at nuclear plants in 34 states. The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act gave DOE until Jan. 31, 1998, to begin taking that material for disposal, then was amended five years later to designate Yucca Mountain as the end point.
The Energy Department under President George W. Bush filed its license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2008, but the Obama administration defunded the proceeding two years later. Congress so far has resisted multiple requests from the Trump administration to appropriate money to resume licensing. Meanwhile, two corporate teams are seeking federal licenses for temporary spent fuel storage sites in Texas and New Mexico.
The House in June passed legislation that would in fiscal 2020 provide nearly $50 million for “integrated management” of nuclear waste, with about half of that for promoting interim storage. The Senate has yet to issue any spending bills for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, though action is expected quickly once Congress returns Monday from its August recess.
Baranwal also reaffirmed her previously stated belief that it is worth reconsidering reprocessing of used fuel. “We have this precious asset that is barely used, in my opinion, and then we have another whole set of reactor class, advanced reactors, some of them are looking to use used fuel as their base fuel.”
