The Sandpaper.net, Gina G. Scala, ggscala@thesandpaper.net, Oct 17, 2018 Less than a month after submitting a license renewal application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Holtec International Inc., a New Jersey-based company known globally for its used nuke fuel management technologies and interested in purchasing the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station from its current owners, submitted a revised report outlining its decommissioning plans for the plant.The Holtec Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report will be reviewed separately from the license transfer application, according to Neil Sheehan, public information officer for the NRC Region 1 office. The license transfer provides information on how and why the company is financially and technically capable of handling the Oyster Creek decommissioning as well as managing the spent nuclear fuel storage onsite for the foreseeable future, he said. In their joint license renewal application, the two companies requested that the NRC adhere to a schedule to help meet a May 1, 2019, deadline for its decision on ownership……..
The revised PSDAR, submitted Sept. 28, highlights the accelerated schedule for the prompt decommissioning of Oyster Creek and the unrestricted release of the site, with the exclusion of the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, or spent fuel pad, on site.
“This DECON PSDAR is contingent upon NRC approval of the LTA (license transfer application), completion of transfer of the licenses and asset sale closure. If the licenses are not transferred, this DECON PSDAR will be ineffective, and the May 21, 2018 PSDAR submitted by Exelon Generation will remain in effect,” according to the revised PSDAR. “Exelon Generation has reviewed the contents of this letter and is aligned.”
The Master Summary Schedule is based on the assumptions that the licenses are transferred to Holtec in July 2019, according to the report.
From the beginning, Holtec officials have said the company’s preferred method for decommissioning Oyster Creek was a DECON, or decontamination, method, in which equipment, structures and portions of the facility and site that contain radioactive contaminants are promptly removed and decontaminated to a level that permits termination of the license shortly after cessation of operations.
The one timeline change from an Aug. 15 meeting with the NRC and Exelon Generation is the transfer of spent nuclear fuel to the ISFSI. Under the revised PSDAR report, that activity is slated to be finalized in 2023, providing for the complete dismantlement of the reactor and turbine buildings. Radiological decommissioning, according to the revised plan, is expected to be completed by 2024. That would allow full release of the Route 9 site, located on 779 acres of land in the Forked River section of Lacey Township, with the except of the spent fuel pad.
In August, Holtec’s expedited timeline called for this process to begin with still-hot spent fuel being moved sometime next year and a 2021 completion date, with a full removal from the site by 2034 and full license termination by 2035.
“The Oyster Creek spent fuel is projected to be accepted by the DOE (Department of Energy) for shipment away from the Oyster Creek site in the years 2034 and 2035,” according to the revised report. “Spent fuel storage operations continue at the site, independent of decommissioning operations, until the transfer of the fuel to the DOE is complete. At that time, the ISFSI is decommissioned and the site released for unrestricted use.”
The NRC is currently reviewing applications for two potential interim sites to house spent nuclear fuel, one in Texas and the other in New Mexico. In the meantime, the only option for U.S. nuclear power plants is to store spent fuel from the reactor vessel on site.
Just last month, the deadline to request a public hearing on Holtec International’s interim repository in New Mexico closed. However, there is still time to request a public hearing for a similar spent fuel facility in West Texas. That window closes Oct. 29. The federal agency resumed reviewing the application after it received two letters, dated June 8 and July 19, from Interim Storage Partners, a joint venture between Waste Control Specialists and Orano CIS LLC. ……. https://thesandpaper.villagesoup.com/p/would-be-nuclear-plant-owner-submits-revised-decommissioning-plan-for-oyster-creek/1784585
October 18, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
decommission reactor, USA |
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Regulators Discuss New Plans For Nuclear Waste At Hanford https://www.opb.org/news/article/hanford-nuclear-waste-plans-portland-oregon-meetings/, by Cassandra Profita Oct. 15, 2018 Federal and state energy regulators will hold back-to-back meetings in Portland on Tuesday for a proposal to reclassify some of the high-level nuclear waste at the Hanford Site in Washington.
The proposal has major implications for the nuclear waste that remains in Hanford’s storage tanks.
In recent years, the U.S. Department of Energy has been working to retrieve the nuclear waste left in storage tanks, and in one area known as C-Farm, they’ve removed as much as they can get.
“But there is some amount they were not able to get,” said Jeff Burright, nuclear waste remediation specialist with the Oregon Department of Energy. “And that equates to approximately 70,000 gallons of waste.”
The Energy Department wants to downgrade that remainder to “low-level radioactive waste,” so they can leave it in place and fill the tanks with grout. The area would then be sealed off to prevent the waste from migrating.
It’s the first step in a long closure process for about 10 percent of the storage tanks on the site. But the Oregon Department of Energy has raised concernsthat federal officials are moving too quickly. The state has filed public comments asking federal officials to do additional reviews before making any decisions.
“The movement of waste through the Hanford environment is a very complex process that we’re still trying to fully understand,” Burright said. “Despite their best efforts, there are still uncertainties over very long time scales that could represent future risk.”
Burright said closing the tanks could prevent the future removal of the 70,000 gallons of remaining waste should new technologies emerge. Plus, he said, there may be additional risks stemming from the million gallons of waste that have already leaked or spilled into the ground underneath the tanks on the site.
The Oregon Department of Energy is holding its own informational meetingon the issue at 6:30 p.m. after the U.S. Department of Energy’s informational meeting from 3-5 p.m. in Portland on Tuesday. Both meetings will be held at the same location, the Eliot Center at the First Unitarian Church, 1226 SW Salmon St.
October 16, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA, wastes |
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Last three reactor compartments soon off the water https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2018/10/last-three-reactor-compartments-soon-water#.W8P-hlNi_4E.facebook25-years with safe decommissioning of Cold War submarines in the Russian north will come to an end next year. By Thomas Nilsen, October 14, 2018
120 nuclear-powered submarines sailing in-and-out from the Kola Peninsula during the Cold War have been properly decommissioned since the early 1990s. While most of the metal could be recycled, the still-highly radioactive reactor compartments had to be secured for long-term storage.
Intermediate, that meant storing the compartments floating at piers until they could be taken onshore at the central storage complex in Saida Bay, north of Murmansk on the coast of the Barents Sea.
In 2017, the Barents Observer reported that 15 compartments were still kept afloat on the water.
Today, only three reactor compartments remain and they will be taken onshore in 2019, Izvestia reports with reference to the northwestern branch of RosRao, Russia’s state owned company for handling radioactive.
The three compartments are today stored at piers in Saida Bay, while 117 compartments are stored on the huge concrete pad.
RosRao’s Chief Engineer says the very last reactor compartment t be taken onshore is the one from the “Kursk” submarine that sant in the Barents Sea in August 2000 during a naval exercise. The submarine was lifted from the seabed two years after and the remaining parts of the hull were scrapped.
In Saida Bay, the reactor compartments will have to be stored for onshore for many decades before the radioactivity have come down to levels acceptable for cutting the reactors’ metal up and pack it for final geological disposal.
October 15, 2018
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Russia, wastes |
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What the candidates for governor, AG say about nuclear waste in Idaho, Idaho Statesman, BY LUKE RAMSETH, the Statesman, October 14, 2018
The major-party candidates for Idaho governor and attorney general agree that a federal proposal to send nuclear waste from Washington to Idaho for treatment isn’t realistic, especially considering existing cleanup and shipment delays at the Idaho National Laboratory’s desert site.
In interviews, the candidates weighed in on several key nuclear waste and research issues related to the U.S. Department of Energy and INL, including the controversial proposal to move 7,000 cubic meters of transuranic nuclear waste to a specialized eastern Idaho facility for treatment. A recent poll found a majority of Idahoans favor accepting the waste to keep the facility going.
“To make a pipeline where waste from another area came in here, was processed, and was shipped out — I just don’t think it makes good sense,” said Republican Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who faces Democrat Paulette Jordan in the Nov. 6 general election. “There’s a lot of other things we can do at the lab.”
“My intent is to not take in any more nuclear waste until we are able to properly manage what we have already, and are able to ship [that waste] outside our state,” said Jordan, a former state representative.
Idaho politicians have for decades grappled with nuclear waste issues — how to balance pushing the federal government to clean up the toxic mess at the INL site while also maintaining a healthy research laboratory in the state. That challenge will continue for the next governor and attorney general, who will face a DOE out of compliance on several of its cleanup commitments under the 1995 Settlement Agreement, the document regulating federal radioactive waste cleanup in the Gem State.
They may also find themselves managing a renewed push to change or renegotiate the landmark cleanup agreement — a possibility that has nuclear watchdog group Snake River Alliance concerned — as well as plans to build a new type of nuclear reactor on the INL site.
“The problem is there’s a good chunk of eastern Idaho who make a living off of INL. We can’t ignore them,” said Bruce Bistline, a Democrat and Boise attorney challenging Republican Lawrence Wasden for attorney general. “But at the same time, it’s Western Idaho who drinks the water that will one day be undrinkable if we don’t get ahold of the management of that waste.”
Former Gov. Phil Batt, a Republican who negotiated the waste deal with federal officials, said the state’s next leader must be ready to learn about several complicated nuclear issues, and realize the federal government can be difficult to deal with. He added that no new waste should be accepted until DOE has met its current obligations to Idaho.
“I think we need to keep [the pressure] on them,” he said of the agency.
Accepting Hanford waste
As co-chairman of the state’s Leadership in Nuclear Energy Commission, Little said he’s studied the federal proposal to bring waste into the state for treatment. “I just don’t believe it’s going to happen,” he said.
The idea is to send Cold War-era waste from the Hanford Site in Washington, and possibly other federal facilities, to eastern Idaho for treatment and repackaging. From there, the waste would be sent on for disposal at a New Mexico facility called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP…….
to bring in even more waste before the current work is finished doesn’t make much sense, both Little and Jordan said. Both indicated other research and cleanup work at the site could employ many of the workers who are now based at the treatment facility. ……https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/election/article219803490.html
October 15, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, USA, wastes |
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Nuclear station mud dumping: first phase ends, BBC, 12 Oct 18 The first phase of the dumping of mud off the coast of Cardiff as part of work to build a new nuclear power station in Somerset has been completed.EDF, the firm building Hinkley Point C, said contractors have completed the work.
Campaigners had demanded more tests on the sediment, taken from a site in the seabed near the new facility.
But EDF said the sediment was not radioactive under UK law and posed no threat to human health.
A second phase of dredging is yet to take place with work potentially taking place in 2020. Campaigners had been concerned the sediment, which was dumped at a site just over a mile out to sea from Cardiff, could have become contaminated by discharges from the old Hinkley Point A and B sites……..
further dredging “will be required ahead of drilling the vertical shafts for the cooling water system for the new power station”. ……….Demands for the licence to be suspended were rejected in the assembly on Wednesday following a lively Senedd debate. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-45837504
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October 13, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
UK, wastes |
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What causes nuclear waste glass to dissolve? Phys Org, University of Houston October 10th, 2018
Immobilizing nuclear waste in glass logs—a process known as vitrification—is currently used in the United States to safeguard waste from sites associated with defense activities. Some other countries also use the process to capture waste from nuclear power plants.
Researchers know, however, that the glass can begin to dissolve after a long period of time, and the durability of these glass logs remains an active area of research.
Researchers from the University of Houston, the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh are working on one of the most pressing issues—what causes the glass to begin to deteriorate relatively quickly at some point, potentially releasing radioactive waste at levels exceeding regulatory thresholds?……….”We have long observed from laboratory studies that zeolite formation in glass corrosion tests resulted in an increase in the glass corrosion rate,” said Neeway, a researcher at PNNL. ………
Zeolite P, the zeolite that forms from the glass, is affected by temperature—Rimer said researchers synthesize it in the lab at 100 °C—but they don’t yet know how crystallization proceeds at lower temperatures and they don’t have methods to deter its formation. But controlling temperatures in the geologic formations designated as nuclear waste repositories is not necessarily practical, thus researchers are looking for other factors that might affect crystal growth, including components of the glass. https://phys.org/wire-news/300629772/what-causes-nuclear-waste-glass-to-dissolve.html
October 11, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Reference, safety, wastes |
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comments on this Russian claim Biological processes operate at the chemical level (electronic structure around atoms) these would be ineffective at changing anything at the nuclear level (strong and weak forces between parts of the nucleus). I would expect that the *most* that bacteria could do would be to concentrate and to isolate distributed atoms that happen to be radioactive.
Russian Scientists Discover Bacteria That Neutralizes Nuclear Waste https://sputniknews.com/science/201810081068701682-nuclear-waste-neutralizing-bacteria/ The unique bacteria, discovered in a nuclear waste storage site in Siberia, shows promise as a tool for the creation of a natural barrier to the spread of radionuclides.
Researchers from the Moscow-based Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Federal Research Center for Biotechnology have been able to isolate microorganisms which can be used to safeguard the surrounding environment from liquid radioactive waste.
Scientists made the discovery while conducting microbiological studies of the groundwater at the Seversky deep radiation burial site in Seversk, Tomsk region, Siberia, where liquid radioactive waste from the Siberian Chemical Combine, which supplies and reprocesses low enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, is stored.
Their research, recently published in Radioactive Waste, a Russian scientific journal, suggests that the bacteria is capable of converting radionuclide ions, including those found in uranium and plutonium, into sedentary forms, thereby preventing the spread of dangerous radiation into the surrounding environment. Through lab experimentation, the scientists were able to fine tune the conditions necessary for the bacteria to carry out its useful work.
The researchers say their findings are a first step in creation a biogeochemical barrier for radionuclides for use in deep burial sites containing liquid radioactive waste.
Research into microbiological tools to limit the effects of nuclear waste have been conducted since the 1980s, with scientists from around the world saying microbial processes must be taken into account in projects to bury and store nuclear waste which can otherwise decay over a period of millions or even billions of years.
October 9, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Russia, spinbuster, wastes |
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Make nuclear waste site Ottawa Valley election issue: coalition https://www.insideottawavalley.com/news-story/8948934-make-nuclear-waste-site-ottawa-valley-election-issue-coalition/ NEWS Oct 05, 2018 by John Carter Arnprior Chronicle-Guide A group of concerned citizens is making a concerted effort to make the proposed nuclear waste disposal at Chalk River an election issue throughout Renfrew County, especially those municipalities along the Ottawa River.The informal alliance that also includes Ottawa Riverkeeper, the Coalition Against Nuclear Dumps on the Ottawa River and two cottagers groups, has sent a lengthy letter to each municipal candidate, spelling out “major concerns” about the plan. The groups stress they’re not advocating the closure of Chalk River nuclear laboratories but want changes to proposals on how and where radioactive nuclear waste is to be disposed.
It asks candidates to support efforts to petition the federal government to move the proposed radioactive nuclear disposal site “much farther away” from the Ottawa River and to use more-secure containment methods.
“Your constituents are very worried that large amounts of radioactive waste could contaminate the Ottawa River if these plans are not changed,” says the letter. That would affect the drinking water of millions of people.
The letter points out the contract includes the requirement to “seek the fastest, most cost-effective means” to dispose of all the radioactive waste that has been accumulating at Chalk River and other federal nuclear sites. The contract also includes decommissioning and entombing the nuclear reactor at Rolphton, which the coalition calls inappropriate.
The letter says the proposed 27-acre containment “mound” will contain up to one million cubic metres of radioactive nuclear waste, including materials transported in from other Canadian decommissioned nuclear sites. It is to be covered over by a combination of sand, stone, gravel and topsoil that could reach about 25 metres high.
The coalition is particularly concerned because the location is directly over an active earthquake zone, above porous and fractured rock, and less than a kilometre from the Ottawa River. It is beside a small lake that drains directly into the Ottawa River through a small creek, the letter points out.
The letter says the danger is exacerbated if the mound is left uncovered for more than 50 years, as planned. Furthermore, “climate change brings unpredictable, catastrophic weather that could cause permanent radioactive contamination of the Ottawa River,” the letter adds.
It suggests retired Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) senior nuclear scientists have raised serious concerns about the proposal. It quotes Dr. J.R. Walker as saying it “employs inadequate technology and is problematically located” and “does not meet regulatory requirements with respect to the health and safety of persons and the protection of the environment.”
The letter urges candidates, if elected, to introduce resolutions questioning the process and opposing the waste proposals as they currently stand, as well as the importation of nuclear waste to Chalk River from other locations “as more than 135 municipalities in Ontario and Quebec have already done.”
October 8, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Canada, politics, wastes |
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https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201810061068647605-nuclear-waste-shipments-expose-populations-radiation/
06.10.2018 Pregnant women in the United States could be exposed to ionizing radioactivity from nuclear waste shipped
around the nation, a radioactive waste watchdog told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear this week.
Given the number of shipments of nuclear waste traveling around the country, “Pregnant women and the fetus and the womb should not be exposed to any ionizing radioactivity if it can be avoided. This is going to happen. Given these kinds of shipment numbers — many thousands — there’s going to be exposures to pregnant women in this country,” says Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear.
Nuclear waste is shipped past Americans all the time without many of us knowing it. Even waste passing by on a train is emitting radioactive particulates, and some of those can have negative consequences over time.
“It’s like an X-ray. It will cause harm,” Kamps said. Nurses often ask patients to wear protective aprons while taking X-rays to minimize exposure to the radiation, since X-rays are technically a carcinogen according to the World Health Organization. Medical News Today has reported that approximately 0.4 percent of cancers in the US are triggered by CT scans. (CT scans use X-rays and computer imagery to generate pictures of the body to help doctors with diagnoses.)
Transporting nuclear waste products is a risky business for public health outside the US, too
“If you have exterior, or external contamination, on the shipment — which has happened hundreds of times in France, 50 times in the US that we know of — those dose rates increase significantly. In France, on average, it was 500 times the permissible [amount of contamination] on one-third of the shipments. In one case it was 3,300 times [the] permissible [amount]. So if that’s one to two chest X-rays per hour, times 3,300 times permissible, that’s 6,600 chest X-rays per hour,” Kamps told Loud & Clear.
October 8, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
safety, USA, wastes |
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When the nuclear era ends: Struggling Zion, Ill., a lesson for Lacey Township, Press of Atlantic city, MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST Staff Writer , 7 Oct 18
October 8, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
USA, wastes |
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Campaigners claim Carlingford Lough dredging proposal could bring “nuclear material” into bay, The Irish News, John Monaghan, 07 October, 2018 CAMPAIGNERS on both sides of the border are objecting to plans to deposit dredged material within Carlingford Lough, claiming it would bring nuclear substances into the bay.
Warrenpoint Port is proposing moving the placing of material collected during its regular dredging – carried out in order to maintain clear access for vessels – from 16 miles out at sea to within the lough.
The port has earmarked a site between Greencastle and Cranfield for the plans.
The Carlingford Ferry crosses close to the proposed zone, from Greencastle in Co Down to Greenore in Co Louth.
Christine Gibson, from Greencastle Keep It Green, said: “We have major concerns about the nuclear and radioactive substances in the lough and how this is going to be dredged and dumped at Greencastle – which is a designated site for its wildlife and natural assets.”
“We are concerned about coastal erosion and how it will affect our air and water quality,” she told the BBC………
Biologist Breffni Martin believes the plan is linked to Brexit.
“The thinking could be that, after Brexit, the European designations could disappear.
“It is hard to understand given the protections that are there, why Warrenpoint would go ahead with this, because in a European framework it seems unlikely that it would be approved,” he added. https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2018/10/07/news/campaigners-claim-carlingford-lough-dredging-proposal-could-bring-nuclear-material-into-bay-1452231/
October 8, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Ireland, wastes |
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Hornepayne, Ont., municipal election to become debate on nuclear waste, Community one of three in 
northwestern Ontario to consider hosting nuclear waste Jeff Walters · CBC News Oct 04, 2018 Voters in the small northwestern Ontario town of Hornepayne will have more to consider at the ballot box than tax rates and economic growth.
The township of 1,000 located between Highways 11 and 17 is in the running to host a nuclear waste repository. It’s one of three in northwestern Ontario, the others being Manitouwadge and Ignace.
Aison Morrison organized a walk this summer to demonstrate against hosting the toxic waste and is now running for town council.
The thought of having a burial area near her family camp, about 20 kilometres from town, caused Morrison to become more vocal in her opposition…….Nearly all of the communities in northwestern Ontario who have shown an interest in hosting the facility, including those no longer in the process, had fallen on hard economic times. Many had lost their primary industry, be it a sawmill or mine.
Morrison said she fears the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) will use its counts of ‘engagements’ as a sign the community supports the site – which she believes the silent majority does not.
Ken Fraser, who is also running for Hornepayne town council, believes the major motivator for the site is financial.
He said the community has received about $1.3 million in funding from the NWMO, and continues to get about $300,000 annually which supports community events, including Canada Day celebrations and the local fish derby…….Morris and Fraser both hope a victory at the ballot box will mean they can change the current direction of how council feels about hosting nuclear waste. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/hornepayne-nuclear-waste-2018-election-1.4849106
The municipal election is October 22.
Fraser said the population of the town, just under 1,000 people, should not be ‘bought’ at any cost.
“And over an eight year period, that’s what it comes out to, 49 cents. So, they divided a town, they’ve actually, you have family fighting, friends fighting friends for 49 cents a day.”
“To me, that’s pathetic.”
October 5, 2018
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Canada, politics, wastes |
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Welsh leaders urged to halt ‘nuclear mud’ dumping off Cardiff, Sediment from Hinkley Point C construction site is being disposed of at Cardiff Grounds, Guardian, Steven Morris @stevenmorris20– 2 Oct 2018 Pressure is increasing on the Labour-led Welsh government to halt the dumping of “nuclear mud” in the sea close to Cardiff after a campaign by an eclectic group of scientists, surfers and a pop star.
October 5, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, UK, wastes |
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Nuclear Reactor Fuel Safety: The Waiting Gain, Union of Concerned Scientists,
DAVE LOCHBAUM, DIRECTOR, NUCLEAR SAFETY PROJECT | SEPTEMBER 27, 2018, Nuclear power reactors spilt atoms to release energy used to generate electricity. Many of the byproducts formed when atoms split are unstable (radioactive) and release particles or gamma rays in search of stability. These radioactive emissions produce energy. Whether in the core of an operating reactor, in the core of a shutdown reactor, in the spent fuel pool after discharge from a reactor core, or in dry storage after offloading from a spent fuel pool, the energy released from nuclear reactor fuel must be removed before it damages the fuel from overheating. This commentary describes the energy levels associated with nuclear fuel in various locations at various times to illustrate the factors that affect the associated hazard levels.
Nuclear Fuel Locations
The San Onofre nuclear plant near San Clemente, California is used to describe the nuclear reactor fuel locations and energy levels for this commentary. San Onofre has been permanently shut down, but data from when its reactors operated and for the spent fuel remaining onsite represent conditions at nuclear plants across the country…….. [excellent photos and tables]
……UCS Perspective
…… the relative hazards of nuclear fuel in reactor cores, spent fuel pools, and dry storage. Nuclear fuel in the reactor core, even in the core of a shutdown reactor, has a significantly higher energy level than when in the spent fuel pool or dry storage. The higher energy level has two associated hazard implications. First, it translates into less time to successfully intervene to prevent fuel damage when cooling is lost or impaired. Second, it provides a larger catalyst or engine to expel radioactive materials from damaged fuel. Risk is defined as the product of the probability of an accident times its consequences. The first factor affects the probability of an accident while the second factor affects its consequences. Combined, these factors can cause risk to increase.
Nuclear fuel in spent fuel pools has lower energy levels than when in reactor cores. The average fuel assembly energy levels are lower than the maximum energy level permitted in a MPC-37 canister. But the associated inventories indicate why spent fuel pools have higher risks than dry storage. The collective higher energy levels in spent fuel pools once again translate into less time to respond should cooling be lost or impaired. And the larger inventory of fuel assemblies emits a larger radioactive cloud should intervention fail.
Nuclear fuel in dry storage represents the least amount of fuel at the lowest energy level. If cooling is lost or impaired, more time is available to successfully intervene and less nasty spread gets out when efforts fail. But fuel in dry storage is far from absolutely safe. If it were even close to being so safe, the US would not be spending billions of dollars looking for, but not yet finding, a geological repository that can isolate this hazardous material from people and the environment for at least 10,000 years into the future.
Dry storage is the safest and securest way to manage nuclear fuel risks today. However, the more of the 10,000-year period we waste looking for a geological repository, the less competent and responsible we reveal ourselves to be.
We can do better. And not just because it would be hard for us to mess this mess up any worse than we’ve mismanaged so far. https://allthingsnuclear.org/dlochbaum/nuclear-waiting-gain
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September 28, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
2 WORLD, Reference, wastes |
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Shutdown of N.J. power plant continues with removal of nuclear fuel https://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2018/09/shutdown_of_nj_nuclear_plant_continues_with_remova.html Sep 27 The Associated Press
The owner of what was considered to be America’s oldest nuclear power plant until its shutdown last week says it has removed the nuclear fuel from the reactor.
Chicago-based Exelon Corp. has notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it removed the last of the fuel rods from the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station on Tuesday.
The material was placed into a spent fuel pool where it will cool down for at least two years.
The fuel eventually will be placed into sealed concrete casks for longer-term storage on the grounds of the former plant in Lacey Township in New Jersey.
A Jupiter, Florida company, Holtec International, plans to buy the plant and move the fuel to an interim disposal site it is proposing in New Mexico.
September 28, 2018
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
decommission reactor, USA |
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nuclear-news 