Setting the Stage for International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities International Workshop Proceedings (2008) / Chapter Skim
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10 U.S. Nuclear Power Industry Trends in Spent Fuel Management--John H. Kessler
10 U.S. Nuclear Power Industry Trends in Spent Fuel Management--John H. Kessler
Pages 75-82
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Kessler Electric Power Research Institute INTRODUCTION At present, nuclear power supplies approximately 20 percent of the electricity needs in the United States. There are 103 nuclear power plants in 31 states.
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Furthermore, recent energy legislation provides a few incentives to U.S. utilities to build new nuclear power plants.
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For U.S. nuclear reactors to keep operating, the NRC requires reasonable assurance • that geological disposal is technically feasible, • that a repository will be available in the first quarter of the 21st century, • that used fuel will be managed safely until sufficient repository capacity is available to dispose of all of it, • of safe on-site storage for the life of the nuclear power plant plus the period of the plant's license extension plus an additional 30 years, and • that sufficient on-site storage capacity will be made available if needed.
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DOE has been actively exploring the Yucca Mountain site ever since. The current disposal limit at Yucca Mountain is 70,000 metric tons of uranium (MTU)
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NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY'S GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND THOUGHTS GOING FORWARD The U.S. nuclear power industry is driven by a few guiding principles regarding used nuclear fuel management: • Ensure that used nuclear fuel storage and/or disposal does not result in plant shutdowns, jeopardize license renewal, affect economic competition, or affect new plant construction.
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There has generally been consistent support by the nuclear power industry for Congress to adequately fund DOE to develop and license Yucca Mountain. However, as shown in Figure 2, DOE has never received from Congress all that it has requested.
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Issues likely to be factored into that report are the current legal limit on Yucca Mountain capacity versus the higher technical limit and the potential for expanded use of nuclear power in the United States in the future. At present, the U.S.
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Finally, there is, at present, a high interest in future expansion of nuclear power in the United States, leading to further strengthening of support for progress on Yucca Mountain. Industry notes, however, that it is DOE's responsibility to develop storage and disposal solutions.
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