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Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage: Public Report (2006)

Chapter: A.2 SECOND MEETING, MARCH 46, 2004, ARGONNE, ILLINOIS

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Suggested Citation:"A.2 SECOND MEETING, MARCH 46, 2004, ARGONNE, ILLINOIS." National Research Council. 2006. Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage: Public Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11263.
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A
INFORMATION-GATHERING SESSIONS

The committee organized several meetings and tours to obtain information about the safety and security of spent fuel storage. A list of these meetings and tours is provided below. The committee held several data-gathering sessions not open to the public to obtain classified and safeguards information about the safety and security of spent fuel storage. The committee also held several data-gathering sessions open to the public to receive unclassified briefings from industry, independent analysts, and other interested parties including members of the public. The written materials (e.g., PowerPoint presentations and written statements) obtained by the committee at these open sessions are posted on the web site for this project: http://dels.nas.edu/sfs.

A.1 FIRST MEETING, FEBRUARY 12–13, 2004, WASHINGTON, D.C.

The objective of this meeting was to obtain background information on the study request from staff of the House Committee on Appropriations, Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. The committee also was briefed by one of the sponsors of the study and by two independent experts. The following is the list of topics and speakers for the open session:

  • Background on the congressional request for this study. Speaker Kevin Cook, Professional Staff, House Committee on Appropriations, Energy and Water Development Subcommittee.

  • Reducing the hazard from stored spent power-reactor fuel in the United States. Speakers: Frank von Hippel, Princeton University, and Klaus Janberg, independent consultant, co-authors of the paper entitled “Reducing the Hazard from Stored Spent Power-Reactor Fuel in the United States” (Alvarez et al., 2003).

  • Nuclear power plants and their fuel as terrorist targets. Speaker: Ted Rockwell, MPR Associates, Inc., co-author of the paper entitled “Nuclear Power Plants and Their Fuel as Terrorist Targets” (Chapin et al., 2002).

  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission analyses of spent fuel safety and security. Speaker: Farouk Eltawila, director, Division of Systems Analysis and Regulatory Effectiveness, Office of Research, Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

On the second day of the meeting, the committee held a data-gathering session not open to the public to obtain classified briefings from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission about its ongoing analyses of spent fuel storage security.

A.2 SECOND MEETING, MARCH 4–6, 2004, ARGONNE, ILLINOIS

During the second meeting, the committee held a data-gathering session not open to the public to receive classified briefings on spent fuel storage security from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The committee also toured the Dresden and Braidwood Nuclear

Suggested Citation:"A.2 SECOND MEETING, MARCH 46, 2004, ARGONNE, ILLINOIS." National Research Council. 2006. Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage: Public Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11263.
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In response to a request from Congress, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Homeland Security sponsored a National Academies study to assess the safety and security risks of spent nuclear fuel stored in cooling pools and dry casks at commercial nuclear power plants. The information provided in this book examines the risks of terrorist attacks using these materials for a radiological dispersal device. Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel is an unclassified public summary of a more detailed classified book. The book finds that successful terrorist attacks on spent fuel pools, though difficult, are possible. A propagating fire in a pool could release large amounts of radioactive material, but rearranging spent fuel in the pool during storage and providing emergency water spray systems would reduce the likelihood of a propagating fire even under severe damage conditions. The book suggests that additional studies are needed to better understand these risks. Although dry casks have advantages over cooling pools, pools are necessary at all operating nuclear power plants to store at least the recently discharged fuel. The book explains it would be difficult for terrorists to steal enough spent fuel to construct a significant radiological dispersal device.

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