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New Presidential Commission is Exploring Ways to Store Radioactive Nuclear Fuel

President Obama's new Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future has a mission that nobody else has been able to do: find a long-term storage solution for America's growing mountain of radioactive nuclear waste.

Earlier this month, Steven Chu, secretary of the US Department of Energy (DOE), filed papers to finally end the agency's nearly 30-year quest to make Nevada's Yucca Mountain the main US repository for spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste. That leaves the United States without a permanent storage site.

The commission is charged with recommending safe, long-term options for storage, processing and disposal of civilian and military spent nuclear fuel from power plants and high-level radioactive waste. The focus is on finding an alternative to Yucca Mountain, which would have stored 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste.

Why was Yucca Mountain shelved?

Fissures in Yucca Mountain could fill with water and submerge the radioactive waste if the climate shifts in the future, Dr. Chu told a Senate appropriations committee earlier this month. Salt domes, whose geology hasn't changed in millions of years, might make better storage, he said. Others point to the influence of Obama ally Sen. Harry Reid (D) of Nevada, who opposes the Yucca site.

Although the DOE has applied to withdraw Yucca's site license application from Nuclear Regulatory Commission consideration "with prejudice," a term meaning it never expects to refile, industry groups say they may sue to block that decision.


Why is a long-term solution important now?
With Yucca Mountain out of the picture and the Obama administration pushing for an expansion of nuclear power, another long-term storage option is needed. Currently, interim storage occurs in spent-fuel pools and in dry, above-ground casks at reactor sites.

Utilities are required under the Nuclear Waste Management Act of 1982 to keep spent reactor fuel on-site until a permanent disposal site is developed. Since then, utilities have paid billions of dollars into a fund to deal with long-term radioactive waste, but no permanent disposal site has been developed.

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More Tritium Found At Vermont Yankee

More Bad News At Embattled Nuke Plant

More tritium has been discovered at Vermont Yankee.

Vermont State Department of Health officials said the radioactive material was found in a deeper well than where the previously discovered leak at the power plant.

Officials said they suspect the tritium is a result of the same leak that was discovered months ago, but that the tritium had slowly moved underground.

Last week, Yankee officials announced they had stopped all of the tritium leaks at the plant.

At this point, no radio active tritium has made its way into drinking water, according to the health department.

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Group Wants Vt. Yankee Closed, Cites Falsehoods

A consumer group is calling on Vermont regulators to reject Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's request to operate for another 20 years.

In a filing Thursday at the Public Service Board, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group said Entergy Corp. acknowledged providing false information to the board by saying it didn't have underground piping that carried radioactive material.

Now, underground piping has been determined to be the main source of radioactive tritium leaking at the plant.

In its filing, Vermont Public Interest Research Group said Entergy should be ordered to pay other parties for their costs in responding to the false statements.

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