The cost to dispose of low-level waste fluctuated in 2020, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated in an annual report, increasing at some sites due to higher waste volumes or radioactivity and decreased at others as a result of streamlined procedures.
The agency’s 2020 estimates were informed by a sample group of nuclear plants and four federally licensed low-level waste disposal sites across the country. Three of these sites, located in Texas, Washington and South Carolina, are managed under state compacts with the federal government. The Utah site is the only one not compact-affiliated.
Low-level waste describes items present at a nuclear plant that are contaminated with radiation, including hardware, piping, tools, soil and other debris.
According to the latest update, published Thursday, the costs of low-level waste disposal at the South Carolina and Washington sites were projected to increase for 2020 by around 1.5% to 2.3% for both pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and boiling water reactors (BWRs).
However, at the Texas and Utah sites, costs were estimated to have decreased last year by 4.4% to 10.8%, depending on reactor type. The commission attributed the cost decline at these sites to overall lower disposal costs and simplification of the disposal process.
At the South Carolina and Washington sites, the total estimated cost to dispose of low-level waste in 2020 ranged from $198 million to $688 million, depending on location and reactor type. At the Texas site, disposal costs for last year were projected at between $144 million and $177 million.
For low-level waste shipped from generators in a non-compact affiliated state — the EnergySolutions site in Utah — the estimated disposal cost was between $230 million and $307 million for 2020.
NRC-licensed plants are required by law to update their decommissioning cost estimates every year. Thursday’s report uses the Commission’s own estimates to provide technical information and to outline an acceptable formula by which licensees can determine projected costs.
There are around 20 nuclear plants across the country currently in the decommissioning process, including the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California, which is being actively disassembled, despite a string of legal challenges by environmental groups.
Additionally, both Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and Indian Point Energy Center in New York are awaiting sale to decommissioning companies.
