SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW BLOCK ON NRC PLAN TO STORE SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL IN ANDREWS COUNTY, TEXAS

Today the Supreme Court announced that it will review a ruling by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from licensing Interim Storage Partners LLC (ISP) to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at a site in Andrews County, Texas. 

Although two other federal appeals courts rejected challenges to the license, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NRC lacked authority to license temporary storage sites under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The ruling asserts that the NRC lacks clear congressional authorization to issue such licenses. Furthermore, the ruling also blocked the license by asserting that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act does not allow for the federal government to site a temporary storage site; the only alternatives are a permanent storage site or to have plants privately store waste on-site. 

In its appeal, the NRC stated that the Fifth Circuit incorrectly stripped the NRC of “an authority that the commission has exercised for over 40 years”. 

This case also impacts the potential development of the Eddy-Lea Alliance private spent nuclear fuel project in New Mexico and any other new proposed private spent nuclear fuel storage site in the country.

The Supreme Court will begin hearing cases Monday, with the beginning of its new term. A decision could be expected by as early as June of next year. 

ECA will continue to provide updates as this case develops. 

GAO: DOE SHOULD EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE METHODS TO TREAT HANFORD WASTE

A recent report published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) calls on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to explore alternative methods to treat waste at the Hanford Site to reduce taxpayer burden and risk to human health. GAO outlined DOE’s current plan to treat about 3 million gallons of the Hanford Site’s high-level waste (HLW) by constructing an expanded HLW Facility to vitrify HLW. However, in April of 2024, DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology reached a Tri-Party agreement on how to manage the Hanford site’s waste. The agreement does not address how the HLW Facility would be reconfigured to facilitate the direct-feed approach laid out in the plan, posing future complications.

GAO convened a panel of experts to discuss alternative approaches to address HLW at Hanford. Experts found that classifying portions of Hanford’s HLW as low-level radioactive waste (LLW) or transuranic (TRU) waste, according to physical characteristics and risk, would allow DOE to dispose portions of waste through less expensive pathways and at pre-existing facilities.  

Experts concurred that some HLW would still need to be vitrified, but that the HLW Facility as currently envisioned may not be necessary, and vitrification capability could be downscaled for a smaller volume of waste. The benefits of this include reducing costs, removing waste sooner, and decreasing risk to human and environmental health. GAO suggests that DOE pause design and construction activities on the HLW Facility to explore these options and reduce taxpayer burden. 

GAO, however, acknowledges that DOE could face legal and regulatory challenges in implementing these policies. Experts stressed that Congress needs to clarify DOE's authority to classify current HLW at Hanford as LLW or TRU waste before DOE can explore these cost-and-time-efficient options.

GAO provided three (3) recommendations to DOE, and one to Congress, for consideration.

1. DOE should target research and development projects addressing Hanford’s HLW toward approaches identified by experts in GAO’ report. 
2. DOE should allow an independent analysis to be performed on the portion of HLW at Hanford that should be managed, treated, and disposed as HLW based on physical characteristics and risk.
3. DOE should pause design and construction of Hanford’s HLW Facility until it has fully explored alternative disposal options for HLW.

GAO also recommended that Congress clarify DOE’s authority to reclassify portions of Hanford’s HLW. 

DOE concurred with two of GAO’s recommendations. However, it disagreed with GAO’s third recommendation that it pause work on the HLW Facility, stating that such a pause would conflict with existing milestones posed by the Tri-Party agreement. GAO disagreed with DOE’s assertion, noting that the HLW Facility will not be completed for another 9 years, and that the Tri-Party agreement allows for the modification of deadlines. 

Read the full report here.

Read the report summary here. 

On a related note, ECA sent a letter last month to the Washington State Department of Ecology containing its comments on the proposed changes to the Washington Tri-Party Agreement and consent decree on Hanford Site tank waste. Read the letter here. 

ECA will continue to monitor and provide updates on how the Washington Tri-Party Agreement and how the Hanford Site will treat its HLW. 

NRC SEEKS COMMENT ON NEW REACTOR GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comment on a proposed rule for a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for licensing new reactors. The generic impact statement uses a technology-neutral framework and plant/site parameters to identify environmental issues common to new reactors, and those issues needing project-specific analysis. NRC staff members will conduct an in-person meeting and two webinars to discuss the proposed generic impact statement and accept comments from the public. The in-person meeting will be at NRC headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland, on Nov. 7 from 1-4 p.m. Eastern time. The webinars will be Nov. 13 from 1-4 p.m. Eastern time, and Nov. 14 from 6-9 p.m. Eastern time. Additional details for all three meetings will be available soon on the NRC’s website. The meetings are one method to comment before the Dec. 18 deadline. Comments can also be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2020-0101, via email to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov, or by mail to Office of Administration, Mail Stop TWFN-7- A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

ENSURING LONG TERM SUCCESS: ECA TRANSITION PAPER FOR DOE-EM

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) must continuously examine its work and evolve. The Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is calling on the next Administration to launch a comprehensive review of all aspects of the EM program. To meet the challenges and better ensure the continued success of the DOE-EM program, the ECA’s Transition paper offers the following recommendations:

• Establishment of disposal paths for every type of radioactive and hazardous waste, including ensuring that both private and public sites are available and utilized.
• The reevaluation of DOE-EM’s use of the end-state contracting model so that more funds are available for actual work.
• Ensuring that regulatory agreements are reasonably achievable and balance short- and long-term needs.
• Improvement of workforce planning to address “brain drain” and long-term needs for skilled talent of all kinds.
• Continuing focus on economic and energy development benefits.
• The maintaining of robust local, state, tribal government, and stakeholder engagement at each site.
• Clarification on DOE policy regarding how the discovery of hazardous and radioactive materials at “completed sites” will be addressed to ensure that cleanup is protective of human health and the environment, and that the local community is not responsible for the DOE’s legacy waste cleanup.
• The reconstituting of a dedicated nuclear waste organization within the DOE to address high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel issues.

Read the paper by clicking its cover above or the button below!

All ECA publications, including the new Transition Paper are available at www.energyca.org/publications.

If you have any questions about the paper please reach out to ajr@energyca.org. 

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