NRC Says Long-Term Dry Cask Storage of Spent Fuel is Safe

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 07/28/14

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week released a study on the environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel. The report found that dry casks designed to store spent nuclear fuel can withstand natural disasters, and the risk of a terrorist attack is unlikely. The Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon is scheduled to close at the end of the year for economic reasons. The Louisiana-based company plans to store spent fuel from the reactor in steel dry casks on site indefinitely. The environmental impacts outlined in the report focus on construction and management activities of the storage site, such as exhaust emissions from transporting the fuel and disturbance to land when building the storage pad. NRC spokesperson Neil Sheehan said spent fuel storage is safe because the used rods cool over time and their radioactive isotopes decay to harmless materials. Spent nuclear fuel consists of rods no longer able to generate sufficient heat to run the turbines that produce electricity. There is currently no federal repository for the waste but the Nevada site may be finally permitted in the foreseeable future.