Otter agrees to 2 shipments of spent nuclear fuel
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has tentatively agreed to allow two new shipments of spent nuclear fuel into Idaho.
The U.S. Department of Energy hopes to advance spent nuclear fuel research at the Idaho National Laboratory. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz asked Otter to approve a plan that would allow two new shipments of radioactive waste, otherwise prohibited by a 1995 Settlement Agreement, into Idaho in support of the Office of Nuclear Energy’s research mission.
In a letter to Otter dated Dec. 31, Moniz said, “We need your continued support to allow research quantities of commercial fuel to be shipped to Idaho.”
Although DOE is currently not in compliance with the settlement agreement, Otter said Idaho would grant a one-time, conditional waiver to allow receipt of spent nuclear fuel from the North Anna Power plant if DOE will agree upon an enforceable commitment and time frame for resolving the 1995 noncompliance issues.
Moniz said the first shipment would be sent to Idaho in June. It would consist of one cask of 25 spent fuel rods, totaling 40 to 50 kilograms, about 100 pounds, of heavy metal. INL would use it to research the technical, economic, and nonproliferation aspects of electrochemical recycling of commercial light water reactor fuels and for fuel performance studies for the nuclear industry.
The second shipment would be made around January 2016. It would also include one cask of 25 spent fuel rods, also about 100 pounds, for research in support of a High Burn-up Dry Storage Cask R&D project with the Electric Power Research Institute. That research would support on-going work by the nuclear power industry to maintain safe storage of spent nuclear fuel at utility locations around the U.S.
Moniz said the agency would budget $10 million to $20 million per year through the end of the decade to pay for the research.
According to Moniz’s letter, “we have had great successes at Idaho. Over 200 buildings and structures, including three nuclear reactors, the largest hot cell in North America, and facilities at the fuel reprocessing complex have been decontaminated and decommissioned since the start of the Environmental Management program 25 years ago.”
DOE has unearthed all but 1.13 acres of the buried waste and anticipates completing the project at least a year ahead of its completion milestone.
In a personal note to Otter below the formal letter, Moniz wrote, “Happy New Year — one in which we can advance our mutual interests!”
In a joint reply with Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden on Jan. 8, Otter indicated the state’s support and said the one-time waiver would be granted “if DOE and Idaho are able to agree upon an enforceable commitment and time frame for timely resolving the 1995 Settlement Agreement noncompliance issues.”
The correspondence between Moniz and Otter is attached to this story under “Related Content.” Click here to see the reaction of two former governors to the waiver.
