Ga., SC urged to act after nuclear waste disposal plan falters

If the nation’s primary option for permanent disposal of nuclear waste doesn’t materialize, communities across South Carolina and Georgia must mobilize to determine a path for its nuclear waste, according to an economic development group hoping to stir more interest in the topic.

Savannah River Site’s Community Reuse Organization, in a paper unveiled today, calls for more dialogue and interest in a topic its vice chair—David Jameson—believes will have lingering implications for the Aiken-Augusta community.

“The government’s about-face on this critical issue leaves state and local leaders with more questions than answers,” he said in a statement today. “The Federal government has broken faith with communities across the nation. It has violated its promise to provide permanent storage of nuclear waste. As a result, we must come to terms with our own lingering – perhaps permanent—role as caretaker for a large part of the nation’s highly radioactive defense waste.”

Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, was being designed to accommodate radioactive material stored at 121 temporary sites in 39 states, including SRS, where high-level wastes are encased in glass and stored in steel cylinders that were to eventually be shipped elsewhere. It was also destined to hold 63,000 metric tons of used commercial nuclear fuels currently scattered among 41 states, including Georgia and South Carolina.

In March, however, U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu recommended that new strategies be developed for nuclear waste, and that a 27-year, $13.5 billion effort to establish the Yucca Mountain project should be abandoned.

The SRS CRO report warns that the elimination of Yucca Mountain will mean wastes stored at SRS will remain there much longer than they were intended, and may stay in South Carolina permanently.

One alternative for dealing with spent nuclear fuel is reprocessing, according to the group’s paper. Reprocessing extracts materials from spent fuel that can be used again as reactor fuel. Although this would extend the life of the nation’s nuclear fuel resources and help create a greater degree of energy independence, commercial reprocessing is currently not practiced in the United States.

The concept of reprocessing could even be tested at Savannah River Site.

“If processing of spent nuclear fuel is authorized today, commercial-scale plants will probably use the‘PUREX’ process, a proven process which results in liquid wastes and separates plutonium in its pure form,” the paper said. “Improved processing methods can reduce the amount of wastes generated and provide improved security or plutonium contained in spent nuclear fuel. These are worthwhile objectives, and are the type of program ideally suited for research and engineering development at SRS.”

It would also be prudent to push for the re-establishment of the Yucca Mountain project, the paper suggested.

“We believe it is in the community’s best interest to (1) aggressively pursue opening of Yucca Mountain and (2) establish processing as an acceptable spent nuclear fuel management option.”

The group is also calling for local representation on a special Blue Ribbon Panel being established by the Department of Energy to review options for long-term nuclear waste storage.

The 27-page paper is available for review on the SRSCRO web site, www.srscro.org.

Yucca Mountain and Savannah River Site: THE BACK STORY

- In June 2008, the U.S. Energy Department delivered a formal application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the nation’s first national repository for high-level radioactive waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

- The 8,600-page application represents a $13.5 billion taxpayer investment spanning two decades.

- If the site is built, radioactive material stored at 121 temporary sites in 39 states -- including Savannah River Site -- would have a permanent resting place.

- Nationwide, there are about 7,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste from the U. S. nuclear weapons production.

- SRS has two glass waste storage buildings, where radioactive waste encased in glass is stored in steel cylinders that were supposed be shipped to Yucca Mountain.

- On March 1, President Obama’s new energy secretary, Steven Chu, announced intentions to scrap Yucca Mountain in favor of convening a panel of experts to explore other options.

- If the Yucca Mountain project is not pursued, the waste would likely remain in South Carolina indefinitely or until alternatives are explored.

- Abolishing Yucca Mountain also leaves in limbo the fate of 63,000 metric tons of used commercial nuclear fuel stored in 41 states , including Georgia.

- One potential alternative to permanent storage is reprocessing, which extracts reusable materials from spent fuels.