Spent fuel storage, federal

Implementation of the spent fuel storage provisions of the act is predicated upon the primary responsibility for storage remaining with the utilities. Federal actions are limited to ... 

Fuel cycles utilizing this method of reprocessing will extend our uranium reserves, decrease the spent fuel storage requirements and decrease the amount of waste requiring storage in a Federal Repository for environmental isolation. AIROX reprocessing is applicable to both light-water reactor fuel cycles as well as fast breeder fuel cycles. 

COUPONS IN THE IR-8 REACTOR SPENT FUEL STORAGE BASIN AT KURCHATOV INSTITUTE, MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION... 

The high-density spent fuel storage racks (PWR or BWR) are analyzed in accordance with the applicable codes and standards listed in ANSI standards (ANS-8.17-1984), the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR, Title 10, Part 50), Kopp (1998), and US Nuclear Regulatory Control (USNRC) guidance documents (NUREG-0800, 1978, 1981, ISG-DSS-2010-001). 

The NRC has developed special procedures for the handling, transportation, and storage of nuclear fuel because radioactivity can be a health hazard if not properly shielded. Spent fuel is typically transported by rail or tmck in heavily shielded (Type B), sealed, thick metal shipping containers designed to withstand possible accidents, such as derailments or coHisions, which may occur during transport. The NRC certifies that each shipping container meets federal requirements. The U.S. Department of Transportation sets the rules for transportation. 

These "temporary" storage facilities were constructed with the understanding that the federal government would eventually devise a comprehensive plan for the collection, transport, and disposal of these most dangerous of all radioactive wastes. The most common system devised for "temporary storage were spent fuel pools. Spent fuel pools are structures like swimming pools, with dimensions of about 40 feet by 60 feet (15 meters by 20 meters). Spent fuel from... 

The act requires major efforts in two primary areas, disposal and storage of spent fuel and high-level waste. This program is to be financed by a fee of 1 mil/KWhr of nuclear power produced, collected from utilities. The act provides for cooperative research, development, and demonstration activities at utility sites and federal sites. 

In addition, the federal government is committed to begin accepting spent fuel in the late 1990s and is planning to provide away-from-reactor storage that may also include a fuel rod consolidation facility. As is usual for all new nuclear operations, the site and the schedule for this facility will depend on public acceptance. 

Producers of electricity from nuclear power plants are assessed a fee of 0.1 cent per kilowatt-hour to pay for future storage of spent nuclear fuel at a federal facility. Receipts from this fee are allocated to the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund and arc appropriated by Congress to cover the costs of developing and constructing a permanent storage facility. 

KIRCH, N. et al., Storage and final disposal of spent HTR fuel in the Federal Republic of Germany", Nuclear Engineering and Design 121 (1990) 241 - 248. 

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