ML20282A660
| ML20282A660 | |
| Person / Time | |
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| Issue date: | 10/30/2020 |
| From: | Couret I Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| Malone, Tina | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20282A628 | List:
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| References | |
| NUREG-1350 V32 | |
| Download: ML20282A660 (17) | |
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5 65 RADIOACTIVE WASTE
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 66 Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Low-level radioactive waste (LLW) includes items contaminated with radioactive material or exposed to neutron radiation. This waste typically consists of contaminated protective shoe covers and clothing, wiping rags, mops, filters, reactor water treatment residues, equipment and tools, medical waste, and laboratory animal carcasses and tissue. Some LLW is quite low in radioactivityeven as low as just above background levels found in nature. Some licensees, notably hospitals, store such waste on site until it has decayed and lost most of its radioactivity. Then it can be disposed of as ordinary trash. Other LLW, such as parts of a reactor vessel from a nuclear power plant, is more radioactive and requires special handling.
Waste that does not decay fairly quickly is stored until amounts are large enough for shipment to an LLW disposal site in containers approved by DOT and the NRC.
Commercial LLW can be disposed of in facilities licensed by either the NRC or Agreement States. The facilities are designed, constructed, and operated to meet NRC and State safety standards. The facility operator analyzes how the facility will perform in the future based on the environmental characteristics of the site. Current LLW disposal uses shallow land disposal sites with or without concrete vaults (see Figure 33. Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal).
Determining the classification of waste can be a complex process. The NRC classifies LLW based on its potential hazards. The NRC has specified disposal and waste requirements for three classes of wasteClass A, B, and Cwith progressively higher concentrations of radioactive material. Class A waste, the least radioactive, accounts for approximately 96 percent of the total volume of LLW in the United States. A fourth class of LLW, called greater-than-Class-C waste, must be disposed of in a geological repository licensed by the NRC unless the Commission approves an alternative proposal. Under the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, DOE is responsible for disposal of greater-than-Class-C waste.
The volume and radioactivity of waste vary from year to year. Waste volumes currently include several million cubic feet each year from operating and decommissioning reactor facilities and from cleanup of contaminated sites.
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act gave the States responsibility for LLW disposal. The Act authorized States to:
form regional compacts, with each compact to provide for LLW disposal site access manage LLW import to, and export from, a compact
exclude waste generated outside a compact See Appendix P for regional compacts and closed LLW sites.
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Figure 33. Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Drainage System Low-Level Waste Impermeable Backfill Top Soil Canisters Impermeable Clay-Reinforced Concrete Vaults This LLW disposal site accepts waste from States participating in a regional disposal agreement.
The States have licensed four active LLW disposal facilities:
EnergySolutions Barnwell facility, located in Barnwell, SCPreviously, Barnwell accepted LLW from all U.S. generators of LLW. Barnwell now accepts waste only from the Atlantic Compact States of Connecticut, New Jersey, and South Carolina. The State of South Carolina licensed Barnwell to receive Class A, B, and C waste.
EnergySolutions Clive facility, located in Clive, UTClive accepts waste from all regions of the United States. The State of Utah licensed Clive for Class A waste only.
U.S. Ecologys Richland facility, located in Richland, WA, on the Hanford Nuclear ReservationRichland accepts waste from the Northwest Compact States (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) and the Rocky Mountain Compact States (Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico). The State of Washington licensed Richland to receive Class A, B, and C waste.
Waste Control Specialists Andrews facility, located in Andrews, TX Andrews accepts waste from the Texas Compact, which consists of Texas and Vermont. It also accepts waste from out-of-compact generators on a case-by-case basis. The State of Texas licensed Andrews to receive Class A, B, and C waste.
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 68 High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Commercial spent nuclear fuel, although highly radioactive, is stored safely and securely throughout the United States. Spent fuel is stored in pools and in dry casks at sites with operating nuclear power reactors, decommissioning or decommissioned reactors, and some other sites. Waste can be stored safely in pools or casks for 100 years or more. The NRC licenses and regulates the storage of spent fuel, both at commercial nuclear power plants and at separate storage facilities.
Most reactor facilities were not designed to store the full amount of spent fuel that the reactors would generate during their operational lives. Facilities originally planned to store spent fuel temporarily in deep pools of continuously circulating water, which cools the spent fuel assemblies. After a few years, the facilities were expected to send the spent fuel to a reprocessing plant.
However, in 1977, the U.S. Government declared a moratorium on reprocessing spent fuel in the United States. Although the Government later lifted the restriction, reprocessing has not resumed in the United States.
Facilities then expanded their storage capacity by using high-density storage racks in their spent fuel pools. For additional storage, some fuel assemblies are stored in dry casks on site (see Figure 34. Spent Fuel Generation and Storage After Use).
These facilities are called independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSIs) and are licensed by the NRC. These large casks are typically made of leak-tight, welded, and bolted steel and concrete surrounded by another layer of steel or concrete.
The spent fuel sits in the center of the cask in an inert gas. Dry cask storage shields people and the environment from radiation and keeps the spent fuel inside dry and nonreactive (see Figure 35. Dry Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel).
Another type of ISFSI is called a consolidated interim storage facility. Such a facility would store spent fuel from multiple commercial reactors, including those that have ceased operation, on an interim basis until a permanent disposal option is available.
Additional information on consolidated interim storage is available on the NRCs Web site (see the Web Link Index).
The NRC regulates facilities that store spent fuel in two different ways. The NRC may grant site-specific licenses after a safety review of the technical requirements and operating conditions for an ISFSI. The NRC has issued a general license authorizing nuclear power reactor licensees to store spent fuel on site in dry storage casks See Appendices N and O for information about dry spent fuel storage and licensees.
See Glossary for information on fuel reprocessing (recycling).
A-Z
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that the NRC has certified. Following a similar safety review, the NRC may issue a Certificate of Compliance and add the cask to a list of approved systems through a rulemaking. The agency issues licenses and certificates for terms not to exceed 40 years, but they can be renewed for up to an additional 40 years (see Figure 36.
Licensed and Operating Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations by State).
Public Involvement The public can participate in decisions about spent nuclear fuel storage, as it can in many licensing and rulemaking decisions. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the NRCs own regulations call for public meetings about site-specific licensing actions and allow the public to comment on Certificate of Compliance rulemakings. Members of the public may also file petitions for rulemaking. Additional information on ISFSIs is available on the NRCs Web site (see the Web Link Index).
Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal The current U.S. policy governing permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste is defined by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. These acts specify that high-level radioactive waste will be disposed of underground in a deep geologic repository licensed by the NRC. Because the timing of repository availability is uncertain, the NRC looked at potential environmental impacts of storing spent fuel over three possible timeframes: the short term, which includes 60 years of continued storage after a reactors operating license has expired; the medium term, or 160 years after license expiration; and indefinite, which assumes a repository never becomes available. The NRCs findingsthat any environmental impacts can be managedappear in the 2014 report NUREG-2157, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel.
NRC Senior Resident Inspector James McGhee ( right ) talks with a member of the public at a meeting on the performance of area nuclear power plants and their future decommissioning.
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 70 Figure 34. Spent Fuel Generation and Storage After Use Fuel Assembly Nuclear Reactor Fuel Rods Uranium Fuel Pellets Fuel Rod Coolant 1
A nuclear reactor is powered by enriched uranium-235 fuel. Fission (splitting of atoms) generates heat, which produces steam that turns turbines to produce electricity. A reactor rated at several hundred megawatts may contain 100 or more tons of fuel in the form of bullet-sized pellets loaded into long metal rods that are bundled together into fuel assemblies. Pressurized-water reactors (PWRs) contain between 120 and 200 fuel assemblies. Boiling-water reactors (BWRs) contain between 370 and 800 fuel assemblies.
2
After 5-6 years, spent
fuel assemblies (which are typically 14 feet [4.3 meters]
long and which contain nearly 200 fuel rods for PWRs and 80-100 fuel rods for BWRs) are removed from the reactor and allowed to cool in storage pools.
At this point, the 900-pound (409-kilogram) assemblies
contain only about one-fifth the original amount of uranium-235.
Uranium Fuel Pellet Fuel Rod Fuel Assembly
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3
Commercial light-water
nuclear reactors store spent radioactive fuel in a steel-lined, seismically designed concrete pool under about 40 feet
(12.2 meters) of water that provides shielding from radiation. Pumps supply continuously flowing water to cool the spent fuel. Extra water for the pool is provided by other pumps that can be powered from an onsite emergency diesel generator.
Support features, such as water-level monitors and radiation detectors, are also in the pool. Spent fuel is stored in the pool until it is transferred to dry casks on site or transported off site for interim storage or disposal.
Storage Cask Canister Bundle of Spent Fuel Assemblies
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 72 Spent Fuel Dry Storage Overview Figure 35. Dry Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel At nuclear reactors across the country, spent fuel is kept on site, typically above ground, in systems basically similar to the ones shown here. The NRC reviews and approves the designs of these spent fuel storage systems before they can be used.
1
Once the spent fuel has sufficiently cooled, it is
loaded into special canisters that are designed to hold nuclear fuel assemblies. Water and air are removed. The canister is filled with inert gas, welded shut, and rigorously tested for leaks. It is then placed in a cask for storage or transportation. The dry casks are then loaded onto concrete pads.
2 The canisters can also be
stored in aboveground concrete bunkers, each of which is about the size of a one-car garage.
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Figure 36. Licensed and Operating Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations by State Licensed and Operating Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations by State MISSISSIPPI Grand Gulf MISSOURI Callaway NEBRASKA Cooper Ft. Calhoun NEW HAMPSHIRE Seabrook NEW JERSEY Hope Creek Salem Oyster Creek NEW YORK Indian Point FitzPatrick Ginna Nine Mile Point NORTH CAROLINA Brunswick McGuire OHIO Davis-Besse Perry OREGON Trojan PENNSYLVANIA Limerick Susquehanna Peach Bottom Beaver Valley Three Mile Island SOUTH CAROLINA Oconee Robinson Catawba Summer TENNESSEE Sequoyah Watts Bar TEXAS Comanche Peak South Texas Project UTAH Private Fuel Storage VERMONT Vermont Yankee VIRGINIA Surry North Anna WASHINGTON Columbia WISCONSIN Point Beach Kewaunee La Crosse ILLINOIS Braidwood Byron Clinton GEH Morris (Wet)
Dresden La Salle Quad Cities Zion IOWA Duane Arnold LOUISIANA River Bend Waterford MAINE Maine Yankee MARYLAND Calvert Cliffs MASSACHUSETTS Yankee Rowe Pilgrim MICHIGAN Big Rock Point Palisades Cook Fermi MINNESOTA Monticello Prairie Island ALABAMA Browns Ferry Farley ARIZONA Palo Verde ARKANSAS Arkansas Nuclear CALIFORNIA Diablo Canyon Rancho Seco San Onofre Humboldt Bay COLORADO Fort St. Vrain CONNECTICUT Haddam Neck Millstone FLORIDA Crystal River St. Lucie Turkey Point GEORGIA Hatch Vogtle IDAHO DOE: Three Mile Island 2 (Fuel Debris)
DOE: Idaho Spent Fuel Facility ISFSI site-specific license (15)
ISFSI general license (65) 35 States have at least one ISFSI
- Facility licensed only, never built or operated.
CA NV OR WA ID UT WY MT CO NM AZ TX OK KS NE SD ND MN WI IA IL MO AR LA MS AL TN KY VA MD DC DE NJ RI WV OH MI PA NY ME VT CT NH MA IN GA FL SC NC
- Facility licensed only, never built or operated. Alaska and Hawaii are not pictured and have no sites. Data are current as of August 2020. NRC-abbreviated site names listed. For the most recent information, go to the Dataset Index Web page at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/datasets/.
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 74 The NRC adopted those findings into NRC regulations in a continued storage rule.
This rule provides an important basis for issuing new or renewed licenses for nuclear power plants and spent fuel storage facilities.
Transportation The NRC regulates the transportation of spent nuclear fuel. The NRC establishes safety and security requirements in collaboration with DOT, certifies transportation cask designs, and conducts inspections to ensure that requirements are being met.
Spent nuclear fuel transportation casks are designed to meet the following safety criteria under both normal and accident conditions:
Prevents the loss or dispersion of radioactive contents.
Shields everything outside the cask from the radioactivity of the contents.
Dissipates the heat from the contents.
Prevents nuclear criticality (a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction) from occurring inside the cask.
Transportation casks must be designed to survive a sequence of tests, including a 30-foot (9.14-meter) drop onto an unyielding surface, a puncture test, a fully engulfing fire at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius) for 30 minutes, and immersion under water. This very severe test sequence, akin to the cask striking a concrete pillar along a highway at high speed and being engulfed in a severe and long-lasting fire and then falling into a river, simulates conditions more severe than 99 percent of vehicle accidents (see Figure 37. Ensuring Safe Spent Fuel Shipping Containers).
To ensure the safe transportation of spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear materials, each year the NRC takes the following actions:
conducts transportation safety inspections of fuel, reactor, and materials licensees reviews, evaluates, and certifies new, renewed, or amended transportation package design applications conducts inspections of cask vendors and manufacturers to ensure the quality of dry cask design and fabrication Additional information on materials transportation is available on the NRCs Web site (see the Web Link Index).
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Figure 37. Ensuring Safe Spent Fuel Shipping Containers The impact (free drop and puncture), fire, and water immersion tests are considered in sequence to determine their cumulative effects on a given package.
Photo courtesy: NAC International A transport package is placed inside a conveyance vehicle.
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 76 Decommissioning Decommissioning is the safe removal of a nuclear facility from service and the reduction of residual radioactivity to a level that permits release of the property and termination of the license. NRC rules establish site-release criteria and provide for unrestricted and (under certain conditions) restricted release of a site. The NRC also requires licensees to maintain financial assurance that funds will be available when needed for decommissioning.
The NRC regulates the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, materials and fuel cycle facilities, research and test reactors, and uranium recovery facilities, with the ultimate goal of license termination (see Figure 38. Reactor Phases of Decommissioning, and Figure 39.
Power Reactor Decommissioning Status).
Reactor Decommissioning When a nuclear power plant operator decides to cease operations, it must submit to the NRC a post shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR). This may be submitted before shutting down, or no later than 2 years following permanent cessation of operations. The PSDAR includes detailed plans for decommissioning the facility, as well as an estimate of what decommissioning will cost.
The first stage of decommissioning for a nuclear power plant is to transition from operating status to a permanently shutdown condition. The licensee must certify to the NRC that it has permanently ceased operation and that it has permanently removed the fuel from the reactor. At this point, the license no longer authorizes the plant to operate or load fuel in the reactor.
Licensees typically then apply for several exemptions from NRC requirements that apply to operating reactors but are no longer appropriate after permanent shutdown because a reactor accident can no longer occur. The exemptions are implemented through license amendments that change the plants licensing basis to reflect its decommissioning status. These changes are in areas such as personnel, spent fuel management, physical and cybersecurity, emergency preparedness, and incident response. The NRC is developing new regulations to make this transition from operations to decommissioning more efficient.
The NRC allows a licensee up to 60 years to decommission a nuclear power plant. This may include extended periods of inactivity (called SAFSTOR), during which residual radioactivity is allowed to decay, making eventual cleanup easier and more efficient. A facility is said to be in DECON when active demolition and decontamination are underway. Active decommissioning of a nuclear power plant takes about 10 years on average.
See Appendices C, I, and Q for licensees undergoing decommissioning.
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NRC oversight and inspection continue throughout the entire process. Two years before decommissioning is completed, the plant operator must submit a license termination plan, detailing procedures for the final steps. The NRC inspects and verifies that the site is sufficiently decontaminated before terminating the license and releasing the site for another use.
Public Involvement The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) required the NRC to provide a report to Congress identifying best practices for establishing and operating local community advisory boards, including lessons learned from existing boards. These boards try to foster communication and information exchange between NRC licensees and members of the communities around decommissioning nuclear power plants.
To develop the report, the NRC hosted 11 public meetings in the vicinity of reactors and two webinars to consult with host States, local government organizations, communities within the emergency planning zone of a nuclear power reactor, existing local community advisory boards associated with decommissioning nuclear power plants, and similar external stakeholders. The public meeting locations were selected to ensure geographic diversity across the United States, with priority given to States that have a nuclear power reactor undergoing the decommissioning process.
The report was issued to Congress in July 2020 and includes a discussion of the composition of local community advisory boards and best practices identified during their establishment and operation, such as logistical considerations, frequency of meetings, and the selection of board members.
The NRC holds public meetings around the country, where NRC staff members provide information about the agencys role and mission, the performance of area nuclear power plants, and the plants future decommissioning process.
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 78 Figure 38. Reactor Phases of Decommissioning
.................................................................................. up to 60 years 0-2 years Phases of Decommissioning TRANSITION FROM OPERATION TO DECOMMISSIONING MAJOR DECOMMISSIONING MILESTONES LICENSE TERMINATION ACTIVITIES 1.
Permanent Cessation of Operations 2.
Certification of Permanent Cessation of Operations 3.
Certification of Permanent Fuel Removal 4.
Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activity Report (PSDAR) Submittal*
5.
PSDAR Public Meeting*
6.
Major Decommissioning Activities Preparations for Storage and Dismantlement
SAFSTOR
DECON Fuel Removed Shutdown Activities Decommissioning Plans to the NRC Under SAFSTOR, a nuclear power plant is maintained and monitored in a condition that allows the radioactivity to decay; afterwards, the plant shifts to DECON as the facility is dismantled and the property decontaminated.
SAFSTOR DECON Dry CasksSafely stored and monitored until disposal License Terminated Site released for public or other use PSDAR NRC Inspections License Termination Plan NRC Conducts Survey 7.
License Termination Plan (LTP)
Submitted 8.
LTP Public Meeting 9.
Final Status Survey 10. License Termination Under DECON, equipment, structures, and portions of the facility containing radioactive contaminants are removed or decontaminated to a level that permits release of the property and termination of the NRC license.
SAFSTOR DECON LAND REUSE Public Meeting
- Under DECON, some licensees have submitted the PSDAR before shutdown (license transfer model).
Public Meeting
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Figure 39. Power Reactor Decommissioning Status CALIFORNIA GE EVESR GE VBWR Humboldt Bay 3*
Rancho Seco San Onofre 1, 2 and 3 COLORADO Fort St. Vrain CONNECTICUT Millstone 1 Haddam Neck OREGON Trojan PENNSYLVANIA Saxton Peach Bottom 1 Three Mile Island 1 and 2 SOUTH DAKOTA Pathfinder VERMONT Vermont Yankee WISCONSIN La Crosse*
Kewaunee FLORIDA Crystal River 3 ILLINOIS Dresden 1 Zion 1 and 2*
IOWA Duane Arnold MARYLAND N.S. Savannah MASSACHUSETTS Pilgrim Yankee Rowe MAINE Maine Yankee MICHIGAN Fermi 1 Big Rock Point NEBRASKA Fort Calhoun NEW YORK Indian Point 1 and 2 Shoreham S
S S
S S
S S
S S
SAFSTOR S
S S
S S
D D
D D
D DECON I ISFSI (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation) Only License Terminated (no fuel on site)
Decommissioning Completed Power Reactors Decommissioning Status S
D D
I I
I I
I I
I I
I I
I I
I D
D NEW JERSEY Oyster Creek D
D D
D D
D D
D D
D S
S USNRC - As of August 10, 2020 I
D S
S
- NRC in the final stages of the license termination process with the reviews of the final status survey reports at Zion 1 and 2, La Crosse and Humboldt Bay.
Expected to terminate the 2 research reactor licenses at General Atomics by the end of the year.
D S
S CA NV OR WA ID UT WY MT CO NM AZ TX OK KS NE SD ND MN WI IA IL MO AR LA MS AL TN KY VA MD DC DE NJ RI WV OH MI PA NY ME VT CT NH MA IN GA FL SC NC
- The NRC in the final stages of the license termination process with the reviews of the final status survey reports at Zion 1 and 2, La Crosse and Humboldt Bay.
Notes: Fort St. Vrain ISFSI NRC SNM-2504 license was transferred to DOE on June 4, 1999. ISFSIs are also located at all sites undergoing decommissioning or in SAFSTOR. GE Bonus, Hallam, and Piqua decommissioned reactor sites are part of the DOE nuclear legacy. For more information, visit DOEs Office of Legacy Management LM Sites Web page at https://
www.energy.gov/lm/sites/. CVTR, Elk River, and Shippingport decommissioned reactor sites were either decommissioned before the formation of the NRC or were not licensed by the NRC. Licensees have announced their intention to permanently cease operations for Byron (2021) and Dresden (2021), Indian Point (2021), Palisades (2022), and Diablo Canyon (2024 and 2025).
NRC-abbreviated reactor names are listed. Alaska and Hawaii are not pictured and have no sites. For the most recent information, go to the Dataset Index Web page at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/datasets/. Data are current as of August 2020.
R A DIOACTI V E WA STE 80 Decommissioning of Materials Licenses The NRC terminates approximately 100 materials licenses each year. Most of these license terminations are routine, and the sites require little or no cleanup to meet the NRCs criteria for unrestricted access. The decommissioning program focuses on the termination of licenses for RTRs, uranium recovery facilities, fuel cycle facilities, and sites involving more complex decommissioning activities.
These facilities typically were manufacturing or industrial sites that processed uranium, radium, or thorium or were military bases. They are required to begin decommissioning within 2 years of ending operations, unless the NRC approves an alternative schedule. (See Figure 40. Locations of NRC-Regulated Sites Undergoing Decommissioning.)
SECY-19-0113, Status of the Decommissioning Program2019 Annual Report, dated November 12, 2019, contains additional information on the decommissioning programs of the NRC and Agreement States. More information is on the NRCs Web site (see the Web Link Index).
Figure 40. Locations of NRC-Regulated Sites Undergoing Decommissioning Locations of NRC-Regulated Sites Undergoing Decommissioning Power Reactors (25)
Complex Materials (11)
Fuel Cycle Facilities (1)
Research and Test Reactors (3)
Uranium Recovery (5)
CA NV OR WA ID UT WY MT CO NM AZ TX OK KS NE SD ND MN WI IA IL MO AR LA MS AL TN KY VA MD DC DE NJ RI WV OH PA NY ME VTNH MA IN GA FL AK HI SC NC MI CT
= 2 units
= 1 unit
= 3 units 2
3 2
2 2
2 3
Note: The NRC is in the final stages of the licensing termination process with the reviews of the final status survey results at Zion 1 and 2, La Crosse and Humboldt Bay and it expects to terminate the two research reactor licenses at General Atomics by the end of 2020. For the most recent information, go to the Dataset Index Web page at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/datasets/. Data are current as of August 2020.
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Dismantling activities during the decommissioning process of the Elk River Station in Minnesota.
NRC Region III staff members provide presentations about the plant performance, decommissioning, and environmental monitoring at public meeting for the Michigan-based Palisades nuclear plant.
Image of preparation steps toward demolition of reinforced concrete containment of the building dome that once housed the nuclear reactor.