The federal Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has scheduled a June 13 meeting in Idaho to consider key technical issues to be dealt with prior to transport of radioactive waste from around the country for interim storage or permanent disposal.
The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires the Department of Energy to establish a permanent resting place for what is now tens of thousands of tons of high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors. In the ongoing absence of a repository, two proposals have developed to consolidate the used fuel at remote facilities in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas.
“Before the waste is moved from where it is now to another location, it will be necessary for DOE to complete the development of an integrated waste management program to support transporting the waste,” the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board said in an April 26 press release. “At its meeting, the Board will consider technical issues that need to be addressed in preparing for such a transportation effort.”
The Department of Energy website still lists a four-part integrated waste management system dating to the Obama administration: pilot interim storage facilities, full-scale consolidated interim storage facilities, geologic repositories, and transportation infrastructure to move the waste. However, that is part of DOE’s prior “consent-based siting” approach to which the Trump administration has not committed.
The daylong board meeting will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Lindsay Blvd. in Idaho Falls. Participants will include DOE officials and representatives from the commercial nuclear industry, among others.
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board is an independent agency within the Executive Branch tasked with offering expert guidance to Congress and the secretary of energy on management of spent fuel and high-level waste.
