Members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it has been years since any U.S. company has expressed interest in developing commercial spent fuel reprocessing or recycling capabilities.
“I think in 2009, the agency received some expressions of interest from potential developers of reprocessing capability in the United States,” NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “I would say, though, that in the last number of years since then we as a regulator have not heard any expressions of anyone interested in developing.”
Responding to a question from committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.), Svinicki said a “potential industry developer” – which she did not identify, but was later said to be AREVA – in 2009 asked whether the NRC could update existing regulations on spent fuel reprocessing and recycling. But the company had already apparently lost interest in pursuing reprocessing in the United States before the NRC could even begin an update, she said.
France, Japan, and a number of other nations conduct spent fuel reprocessing, which can recover unused plutonium and uranium for subsequent nuclear power production and reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal.
Commercial reprocessing has never caught on in the United States. The only private U.S. plant to reprocess spent fuel operated near West Valley, N.Y., from 1966 to 1972. It recovered nearly 2,000 kilograms of plutonium, most of which went to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The site is now undergoing cleanup under the direction of the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management.
Then-President Jimmy Carter in 1977 specifically prohibited reprocessing of spent fuel left by commercial power reactors. While a handful of companies in the United States had looked in recent years at developing reprocessing capabilities, AREVA was reportedly seen as the most serious candidate given its experience abroad including operation of the fuel recycling plant at La Hague in its home nation of France. However, AREVA ultimately dropped its plans in the face of challenges including the recession and reduced interest and funding from the Energy Department.
Today there appears to be no appetite in DOE or industry to seriously pursue domestic commercial reprocessing capabilities — which, as noted by economist William Shughart, would be costly and technically complex.
“In the three years I’ve been on the commission it’s not something I’ve heard anyone propose to move in that direction, which may be a reflection of low uranium prices,” Commissioner Jeff Baran told the Senate committee.
More than 75,000 metric tons of spent fuel is now stored on-site at nuclear power plants spread across the United States. The Energy Department has focused on developing a permanent disposal repository for the waste, with the Trump administration trying to revive the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada more than seven years after the Obama administration suspended the project.
The NRC is charged with adjudicating the Energy Department’s license application for Yucca Mountain. That topic did not come up on Wednesday, but in a broad-ranging hearing on oversight of the regulatory agency, all three sitting commissioners – Svinicki, Baran, and Stephen Burns – answered questions on issues including NRC budgeting and staffing, the Project Aim rightsizing program, workforce morale, development of advanced nuclear reactors, and nuclear plant decommissioning.
The NRC is in the middle of establishing new rules for nuclear facilities transitioning from operations to decommissioning, with the aim of reducing the need for regulatory exemptions and license amendments for specific plants. In November, NRC staff determined in a final regulatory basis that the rulemaking would encompass eight areas: emergency preparedness, physical security, cybersecurity, drug and alcohol testing, training requirements for certified fuel handlers, decommissioning trust funds, off-site and on-site financial protection requirements and indemnity agreements, and application of backfitting provisions.
In her opening statement to the committee, Svinicki said the commission should receive a draft rule and implementation guidance from agency staff in spring 2018, which would be followed by a 75-day public comment period. The draft final rule should go to the commission in fall 2019.
“Concurrent with the rulemaking process, the staff continues to conduct timely reviews of decommissioning exemption and amendment requests for those sites currently undergoing decommissioning,” Svinicki said.
