NRC approves final rule on used fuel storage

The issuance of licences for new US nuclear power reactors and the extension of operating licences for existing ones will soon resume following the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) approval of a final rule on the continued storage of used fuel.

The rule updates the NRC's 2010 "waste confidence" decision which doubled the period allowed for onsite storage of used fuel to 60 years but was then overturned by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in June 2012 because it said the agency had failed to consider what would happen if a repository is never built, or the environmental impact of potential fires and used fuel pool leaks at nuclear power plants.

The NRC responded to the court ruling by suspending final licensing decisions on new reactors, reactor licence extensions and used fuel storage facility licence renewals. The commission directed NRC staff to develop a new rule and a supporting generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) within two years.

Following the publication last month of its draft final rule and GEIS on the continued storage of used fuel, the NRC has now approved the final rule and GEIS. The rule adopts the findings of the GEIS regarding the environmental impacts of storing used fuel at any reactor site after the reactor's licensed period of operations. The NRC said, "As a result, those generic impacts do not need to be re-analysed in the environmental reviews for individual licences."

The NRC stressed, "The rule does not authorize, license or otherwise permit nuclear power plant licensees to store used fuel for any length of time." It added, "When warranted by significant events that may call into question the appropriateness of the rule, the commission will review the GEIS and the rule to determine if revisions are necessary."

The Washington DC-based Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) welcomed the NRC's final rule. It said, "The affirmation supports the nuclear energy industry's position that used nuclear fuel from commercial reactors can be safely managed in specially designed fuel pools in the short term and in steel and concrete storage containers for longer timeframes."

Licensing activities

Separately, the NRC also issued an order lifting the suspension of final licensing decisions. The order authorizes the NRC staff to issue final licensing decisions "as appropriate" once the final rule becomes effective, which will be 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, expected next month.

A total of 24 licensing actions have been affected by the two-year suspension. These include applications for 12 combined construction and operating licences for new reactors, one operating licence, eight reactor operating licence renewals, two renewals of licences for used fuel storage facilities and one early site permit. Just two of the actions - licence renewals for units 1 and 2 at Exelon's Limerick plant and the renewal of the licence for the used fuel storage facility at Calvert Cliffs - are awaiting final decisions.

The NRC said, "The results of the continued storage proceedings must be accounted for before finalizing individual licensing decisions. But once the staff has otherwise completed its review of the affected applications and has implemented the continued storage rule as appropriate for each affected application, it may make decisions regarding final licence issuance."

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News