The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded that the Yucca Mountain long-term nuclear waste repository design “meets the applicable performance objectives” in its safety report released Oct. 16. While abandoned as a project in 2010 by the Department of Energy, some Congressmembers, especially Republicans, have continually pursued it being re-opened as an option. The Department’s closure filing was not deficient, though, according to Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force executive director Judy Treichel. If upheld, that means the federal government covered its bases when it shut down the nascent facility. The report “covers the expectation of the performance of the repository from the time of the last of the waste [would have been] emplaced and the facility is closed, out to a million years,” added Treichel. The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future —including the current chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission—determined that a new government body be developed to deal with radioactive waste, and that waste could be sent to more than one location in the U.S. As the federal government is responsible, nuclear-owing utilities, like those in California, are opting for temporary waste storage in dry casks on the site of the facilities. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners applauded the report. The association and some of its constituents have litigated against the federal government over payments required for the Yucca facility despite its non-operational status. “The NRC’s experts have found the Yucca Mountain repository ‘meets the requirements’ for safely storing nuclear waste after the facility is closed. This is a welcome, albeit long overdue development. It is time for Congress and the Administration to assure the agency can complete its statutorily obligated review of the license application and that the Department of Energy actively support the license application as required by law. After all, consumers of nuclear power have contributed billions for this program over the last 30 years; our government owes it to them to finish the job,” noted committee on electricity chair David Boyd of Minnesota. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) called “on the NRC to resume its license review process and for Congress to provide the NRC with the funds needed to complete its review.” She added, “We still need a short-term solution to consolidate the used fuel that is currently sitting at various sites across the country.”
