NRC Issues Final Rule on Spent Fuel Storage, Ends Suspension of Licensing for Nuke Plants/Renewals

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https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1281183-final-nrc-spent-fuel-storage-rule.html

August 26, 2014

NRC Approves Final Rule on Spent Fuel Storage and Ends Suspension of Final
Licensing Actions for Nuclear Plants and Renewals.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday approved a final rule on the environmental
effects of continued storage of spent nuclear fuel and will lift its suspension of final licensing actions on nuclear power plant licenses and renewals once the rule becomes effective.

The Commission’s action signals the end of a two-year effort to satisfy a remand by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court in June 2012 struck down the
NRC’s 2010 revision of its “waste confidence” rule, directing the agency to consider the possibility that a geologic repository for permanent disposal of spent fuel might never be built, and to do further analysis of spent fuel pool leaks and fires. The Commission responded in August 2012 by suspending final licensing decisions on new reactors, reactor license renewals, and spent fuel storage facility renewals. It subsequently directed the staff to develop a new rule and a supporting Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) within 24 months.

The continued storage rule adopts the findings of the GEIS regarding the environmental impacts
of storing spent fuel at any reactor site after the reactor’s licensed period of operations. As a result, those generic impacts do not need to be re-analyzed in the environmental reviews for individual licenses. The GEIS analyzes the environmental impact of storing spent fuel beyond the licensed operating life of reactors over three timeframes: for 60 years (short-term), 100 years after the short-term scenario (long-term) and indefinitely.

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PDF of document:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1281183/final-nrc-spent-fuel-storage-rule.pdf