NRC official: Surface storage of waste a different ballgame

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 10:07 a.m.

Even if Congress approves Yucca Mountain as a permanent nuclear waste repository, temporary storage of nuclear waste at the surface is prohibited under current law, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official said.

Surface storage of nuclear waste was not part of the original repository plan, the NRC's Janet Kotra said Thursday night during a public meeting in Las Vegas.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the NRC is doing a thorough review of its security requirements for all nuclear sites that would include Yucca Mountain.

The commission has to license a high-level nuclear waste repository if the Department of Energy submits an application to build a permanent tomb for an expected 77,000 tons of waste.

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 banned monitored temporary storage of commercial and defense nuclear wastes in a state under study for a permanent repository, she said.

"I would assume that the Department of Energy would not come forward with a design that is prohibited by law," Kotra said.

Although Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and President Bush recommended Yucca Mountain as the world's first permanent nuclear repository, there is no final design for the underground dump.

The DOE is waiting for the Senate to override Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of the nuclear repository site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. If that happens, and a vote is expected by July, the Energy Department would submit its request to the NRC.

If the site is approved, the DOE is considering a plan to store the wastes at the surface to cool as a repository is being built 1,000 feet under Yucca Mountain.

While facilities at the top of Yucca Mountain for transferring shipping containers from truck or train to a robotic system for burial in the mountain has always been part of DOE's plan, how much waste would be stored on top is a critical question, Kotra said.

Even if Congress changed the current law to allow temporary storage at Yucca Mountain, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would have to review and license the surface activities because the Energy Department has never proposed such a scheme, she said.

At the least, Kotra said, there would be a legal review for above-ground storage. The state of Nevada might also challenge the temporary storage idea, she said.

Nevada has filed five lawsuits designed to kill the Yucca Mountain repository and plans to file a sixth on June 4.

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