Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/13/2015
Waste Control Specialists anticipates finishing the license process for an interim storage facility by 2019 and finishing construction by the end of 2020, WCS CEO Bill Lindquist said this week in an announcement of the company’s plans for building an interim storage facility. WCS is angling to become the nation’s first consolidated storage facility for commercial high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel, an important step in the Department of Energy’s post-Yucca Mountain nuclear waste management strategy. According to Lindquist, the support of the local community as well as WCS’ proven site durability gives the company confidence in its aggressive 2020 completion timeline. “Some will scoff at our timeline – they’ll say we’ve been wrestling with this issue for 40 years, and here comes a small Texas company saying they expect to begin solving this problem in just five years,” Lindquist said in remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “We know how to do this. We know the key is open and honest communication with the community, the state, and now the federal government. That dialogue is well underway in Texas. And today, for us, it begins in Washington.”
While WCS announced its intentions to move forward with the project this week, major steps still need to be taken before any construction could take place, WCS President Rod Baltzer said at the event. For one, DOE and WCS still need to hold formal discussion on the economics and DOE’s involvement in the project. According to Baltzer, WCS anticipates dealing with DOE as the main customer for the storage option. Major legislative and funding questions, though, still need resolving and clarifying before DOE can enter into any agreements, but WCS hopes those will be resolved soon. “DOE is aware of what we are doing,” Lindquist said. “We have not had formal conversations with them, and we look forward to, pretty soon, having them with DOE. In terms of involvement and importance, DOE ranks at the top of that. We have not had any formal discussions with anyone in the Administration, but I think we will do that relatively soon.”
WCS’ application to NRC will include storage of both spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste, including potentially DOE-owned high-level waste, at its Andrews, Texas facility. According to Baltzer, the facility should be able to store the DOE-owned high-level waste, but those discussions with DOE have not happened yet. “We will file an application that will be for either [spent fuel or DOE-high level waste],” Baltzer said. “Our focus is on permanently shut down plants in Texas. As those discussions take place with DOE, we will see if there is any interest there, and how that impacts this plan as well.” The pad would look like any independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) facility built at commercial reactors across the country with rows of above ground dry cask storage canisters, Baltzer said.
Another remaining hurdle is gaining the required approval from Congress to move ahead with the site. A consent-based pilot consolidated storage facility is the preferred strategy of the Department of Energy to satisfy the nation’s spent fuel disposal needs, but due to language in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the Department cannot consider other sites beyond Yucca Mountain in Nevada without Congressional approval. In its Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request, released last week, the Department requested a reform that would enable it to move forward with its waste management strategy, but it is uncertain whether that will be included in any legislation.
WCS Going Forward with a Private Approach
WCS is not expecting federal funding to help move the project forward, Lindquist said. Instead, the company anticipates licensing and constructing the facility on its own, and then it would contract with DOE to bring the waste to its facility. “WCS will not seek any federal of state funding for either licensing or constructing the ISFSI,” Lindquist said. “We are asking for a federal license, not a federal handout.” Compared to other construction costs, building an ISFSI pad is relatively inexpensive. With most of the geologic work of the site already complete, WCS would only have to pay for licensing costs and construction costs. “My thought process is once we have a license application and once we are then able to negotiate with DOE for a contract, because DOE is our customer who will ship the waste, and then we will be able to gout and get financing to construct a facility,” Lindquist said. “Keep in mind all we are talking about is a rather large pad and everything is going to be above ground. I think the expenses from that standpoint are not really all that bad.”
In order to incentivize Texas into hosting the facility, WCS anticipates entering into a gross revenue sharing deal with the state and Andrews County similar to the one the low-level facility currently operates under. For waste coming in for disposal from out of compact sources, Texas receives 25 percent of the revenue while the county receives five percent. Lindquist anticipates a similar arrangement under interim storage, albeit with different percentages. According to the resolution passed by Andrews County last month, WCS’ track record of public health and safety as well as the economic benefits from hosting such a facility gives the community a sense of comfort in moving forward.
Positive Sign For Consent Based Approach
John Kotek, the principal deputy assistant secretary for the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, welcomed the news as a positive step forward for the Administration’s consent based strategy approach in comments made at the Energy Community Alliance meeting held in Washington D.C. this week. “It’s an interesting proposal,” Kotek said. “One of the things that struck me about it was here is an example of a community/region that is stepping up and saying we’re interested in doing more with the backend of the fuel cycle. That’s one of the things the [Blue Ribbon Commission] thought we would see more of as you open a dialogue up on the need to find host communities. So, it’s certainly a positive development.”
