National Policies

Radioactive Waste Management - Appendix 3

Australia

There are no nuclear power reactors in Australia. The HIFAR research reactor at Lucas Heights, near Sydney, operated for 50 years and was replaced in 2007 by the OPAL reactor on the same site. The Lucas Heights research centre is operated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

Australia's spent fuel management strategy is to reprocess spent fuel from its research reactor, with the exception of US origin fuel, which has all been returned to the USA. The waste arising from the reprocessing of the non-US spent fuel will be returned to Australia for storage and, ultimately, disposal.

Disposal status

Since the late 1970s there has been an evolving process of site selection for a national radioactive waste repository for low-level waste (LLW) and short-lived intermediate-level waste (ILW). This will be a shallow, engineered pit with multi-layered cover. There has also been consideration of the need to co-locate a secure above-ground storage facility for long-lived ILW including those which will be returned to Australia following the reprocessing of ANSTO's research reactor used fuel. After plans to use a suitable site in South Australia were abandoned due to political pressure the federal government is looking at sites in the Northern Territory. Once a preferred site is selected, a two-year environmental assessment process will begin, in conjunction with the site licensing process.

Used fuel from research reactor operations (classed as ILW) will be reprocessed overseas, and the waste will be returned to Australia for storage.

Waste management facilities

ANSTO's Lucas Heights facility has storage facilities on site for its operational waste and for spent fuel.The Queensland State Government has a purpose-built, above-ground store at Esk, near Brisbane, for low-level and short- and long-lived ILW. The facility holds waste generated in Queensland.

The Western Australian (WA) Government operates a near-surface disposal facility for intractable waste generated in WA, including LLW and short-lived ILW, at Mount Walton East, which is located about 480 km northeast of Perth.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) - www.ansto.gov.au
Regulator for Federal facilities: Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) - www.arpansa.gov.au
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Federal Department of Resources Energy and Tourism - www.ret.gov.au/resources/radioactive_waste

Belgium

Seven PWR units with a total capacity of 5.8 GWe operate supplied 54% of Belgium's electricity production in 2008. The country also has two research reactors operated by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN.

Following the cessation of new reprocessing contracts by the Government in 1994, the country has adopted a strategy of direct disposal.

Disposal status

Near-surface and deep geological repository concepts considered for LLW; sites considered at existing nuclear facilities (Doel, Fleurus, Mol-Dessel and Tihange); partnerships with local authorities at Mol, Dessel and Fleurus-Farciennes to study the societal acceptability.

Deep geological disposal studies underway for ILW and HLW/used fuel; clay and shale layers at Mol demonstration repository under investigation. No disposal site for HLW identified.

Waste management facilities

LLW/ILW storage at Belgoprocess, Dessel.
Spent fuel stored on site at the nuclear power plants.
High-level vitrified waste stored at Belgoprocess, Dessel.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK^.CEN) - www.sckcen.be; Belgoprocess - www.belgoprocess.be
Regulator: Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) - www.fanc.fgov.be
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Belgian Agency for Management of Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials (ONDRAF/NIRAS) - www.ondraf.be

Canada

Almost 15% of Canada's electricity production came from its 18 operating nuclear power reactors (about 12.6 GWe capacity) in 2008.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was set up under the 2002 Nuclear Fuel Waste Act by the nuclear utilities Ontario Power Generation, Hydro-Québec and New Brunswick Power Corporation operating in conjunction with AECL. Its mandate is to explore options for storage and disposal, to then make proposals to the government and to implement what is decided. Less than 3000 tonnes of used fuel per year from Candu reactors is involved.

Disposal status and facilities

The nuclear utilities and AECL remain responsible for low- and intermediate-level wastes, which are currently stored above ground.

Following a strong positive response to polling of local residents, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in 2005 proceeded with plans to construct a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for its low- and intermediate-level wastes near the Bruce nuclear power plant. The DGR will be 660 metres beneath its Western Waste Management Facility, which it has operated since 1974. Environmental assessment and licensing is expected to take 6-8 years, culminating in a construction licence in 2012. Operation is expected in around 2017/18.

OPG is the owner and licensee of the DGR; however, NWMO was contracted to manage development of the DGR from the beginning of 2009.

In June 2007, the government selected the retrievable deep geological disposal option - referred to as adaptive phased management (APM) - recommended by NWMO for the long-term management of high-level wastes. NWMO has said that a final repository would probably be in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick or Saskatchewan, and host localities would need to volunteer for the role. The search for a site was expected to begin in 2009. Operation is expected by around 2025.

Waste management facilities

The Western Waste Management Facility stores all the low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste from the operation of OPG's 20 nuclear reactors, including those leased to Bruce Power. In addition, the facility provides dry fuel storage for the Bruce reactors.

The Pickering Waste Management Facility provides dry fuel storage for the Pickering reactors. OPG is adding a second phase to the facility.

The Darlington Waste Management Facility provides dry fuel storage for the Darlington reactors.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) - www.nwmo.ca

Regulator for Federal facilities: Candian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) - www.cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Natural Resources Canada - www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

Finland

Four nuclear power reactors (totalling 2.7 GWe) supplied 30% of total electricity produced. A fifth unit (1600 MWe capacity) is under construction. The country has a policy of direct disposal of used fuel.

Disposal status and facilities

Near-surface disposal (shallow repositories) for low- and intermediate-level operational waste in operation at Olkiluoto since 1992 and Loviisa since 1998.

Six sites for deep geological disposal of high-level waste/used fuel were considered between 1987 and 1999. Application for 'Decision in Principle' and environmental impact assessment (EIA) submitted by Posiva to government in May 1999. Government policy decision in December 2000 for deep geological disposal in Olkiluoto bedrock.

Construction of the underground rock characterisation facility (ONKALO) began in 2004. ONKALO will be extended to the final disposal depth of about -400 m. Research has been conducted there since the beginning of its construction.

The applications for the construction licence and the operating licence are expected to be submitted in 2012 and 2018, respectively. Acceptance of waste for final disposal is scheduled to start in 2020.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Fortum Power and Heat Oy and Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) are responsible for interim storage of
used fuel and for the conditioning and disposal of operating low- and intermediate-level waste at the Loviisa (Fortum) and Olkiluoto (TVO) nuclear power plants. Posiva Oy - www.posiva.fi - which is owned by TVO (60%) and Fortum (40%), is responsible for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel of the owners.

Regulator: Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) - www.stuk.fi

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of Employment and the Economy - www.tem.fi

France

Fifty-eight PWRs and one FBR accounted for 76% of total electricity produced in France in 2008. The country has a policy of reprocessing used fuel.

The management of radioactive waste in France is governed by the 28 June 2006 Act on the sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste. This Act defines a roadmap for management of all radioactive waste, in particular by requiring the updating every three years of a National Plan for the Management of Radioactive Materials and Waste (PNGMDR). It confirms that long-term management of high-level waste would be by deep geological disposal (with retrievability for at least 100 years).

Disposal status and facilities

Most short-lived intermediate- and low-level waste is sent for final disposal to the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency's (ANDRA's) surface waste repositories. There are two such repositories in France:

• The Manche waste repository was set up in 1969 at Digueville and was operated until July 1994. It entered the surveillance phase in January 2003.
• The Centre de l’Aube low- and intermediate level short-lived waste repository in Soulaines-Dhuys (Aube department) was licensed in September 1989 and took over from the Manche repository In 1992.

In addition, the Centre de Morvilliers (near the Centre de l’Aube), a dedicated facility for very low-level waste (average activity should be under 10 Bq/g), has been in service since August 2003.

For wastes contaminated with radium and of graphite wastes (i.e. low-level wastes that are long lived) a disposal centre is under development with operation planned for 2019.

The 28 June 2006 Act on the sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste envisages an operational solution for deep geological disposal to be available by the year 2025 (following licensing in 2015). The site is likely to be at Bure (Meuse department), where an underground laboratory in a clay formation was opened in 2004. 

Responsible agencies

Implementer: National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Agence Nationale pour la gestion des Dechets Radioactifs, ANDRA) - www.andra.fr

Regulator for Federal facilities: French nuclear safety authority (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) - www.asn.fr

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable development and Town and country planning (Le ministère de l’Écologie, de l’Énergie, du Développement durable et de l’Aménagement du territoire) - www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr

Germany

Seventeen power reactors are currently operating in Germany. In 2008, nuclear electricity accounted for 28% of total electricity produced. The country has a nuclear phaseout policy in place. If it is not reversed, all nuclear power stations would be closed by around 2021.

German policy had been to reprocess used fuel - the country had reprocessing contracts with other countries until 1989 - but has shifted towards direct disposal. Vitrified high-level radioactive waste from France and the UK are temporarily stored at facilities in Gorleben and Ahaus. High-level radioactive wastes from reprocessing are stored at the facilities where they were created.

Disposal status and facilities

The Morsleben repository for radioactive waste was used for the disposal of low-level and medium-level radioactive waste in the former German Democratic Republic from 1971 to 1991 and later on from 1994 to 1998. The installation is now being decommissioned.

The former iron ore mine Konrad in Salzgitter has been investigated since 1975 as a possible repository repository for radioactive waste with negligible heat generation. The conversion of the Konrad mine into a repository started in May 2007 following a decision Federal Administrative Court ruling. The repository is planned to be taken into operation by the end of 2013.

Between 1965 and 1992 the 100-year-old Asse potash and salt mine near Wolfenbüttel was used by the Helmholtz Zentrum München to carry out fundamental research on radioactive waste disposal in salt rock. In September 2008 all ministries concerned agreed to treat the Asse as a repository. With the beginning of 2009, responsibility for the operation of the Asse mine was transferred from Helmholtz Zentrum München to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS).

The Federal State of Lower Saxony chose the Gorleben site on the basis of the available data. From 1979 studies have been carried out at the salt dome of Gorleben to assess its suitability as a repository for all types of radioactive waste. As part of the nuclear phaseout agreement of June 14, 2000 between the federal government and the utilities, a moratorium lasting 3-10 years was put on underground exploration of the Gorleben salt dome, pending further study of other types of geologic environments.

A repository for heat-generating waste is planned to be erected by 2035.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, BfS) - www.bfs.de, a division of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, BMU)

Regulator for Federal facilities: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, BMU) - www.bmu.de

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) - www.bmu.de

Japan

In 2008, Japan's nuclear power reactors accounted for 25% of electricity produced in the country. There are currently 53 power reactors in operation with a total capacity of 46 GWe. The country has a policy of reprocessing and a large reprocessing complex at Rokkasho-Mura, Aomori Prefecture is under construction.

Disposal status and facilities

A large low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal centre at the Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) site in Rokkasho-Mura, Aomori Prefecture, has been operational since 1992. JNFL is a private venture led by ten domestic electric power companies.

Deep geological disposal is the preferred option for high-level waste. A site selection process for a final repository is currently being carried out by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO). An open solicitation for candidate sites is in progress, with site selection envisaged between 2023 and 2027.

Used fuel storage occurs onsite at all nuclear power plants. An offsite interim storage facility due to commence operations in 2010 at Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, is being built by Recyclable-Fuel Storage Company - a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Co (80%) and Japan Atomic Power Company (20%).

Close to Mutsu is the JNFL site at Rokkasho-Mura. This site has used fuel receiving and storage facilities, including the Vitrified Waste Storage Center, where waste after reprocessing in Europe is stored.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan - www.numo.or.jp

Regulator: Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan - www.nsc.go.jp; Japan Atomic Energy Commission - www.aec.go.jp; Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency - www.nisa.meti.go.jp; Agency for Natural Resource and Energy - www.enecho.meti.go.jp

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry - www.meti.go.jp

Netherlands

The 482 MWe Borssele power reactor accounted for 3.8% of Dutch electricity production in 2008. The country has a policy of reprocessing used fuel and long-term storage (100 years) of all radioactive wastes.

Disposal status

In 1984, a decision was made by the Dutch Government to store all waste at a central interim storage facility for a period of 50-100 years. Long-term storage allows for the deferral of a decision on the final solution to the waste. All radioactive waste originating in the Netherlands is stored at the COVRA treatment and storage facility in Zeeland, near the Borssele power plant.

Used nuclear fuel elements from Borssele and the shutdown Dodewaard nuclear plant are reprocessed in facilities overseas. The waste arising from reprocessing is sent to COVRA for long-term storage.

Waste management facilities

Storage facilities for all radioactive waste originating in the Netherlands are located at COVRA. The HABOG high-level waste storage facility at COVRA opened in September 2003.

Responsible agencies

Implementer and agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (COVRA) - www.covra.nl

Regulator: The Dutch supervisory authority, the Department of Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards (Kernfysische Dienst, KFD) - www.vrom.nl

Spain

Eight nuclear power reactors produced 18% of Spain's electricity in 2008.

In 1984 the state-owned Enresa was established to take responsibility for radioactive waste management in the country.

Disposal status

Some used fuel has been reprocessed abroad, but further reprocessing was cancelled in 1983 and since then used fuel has been stored at the nuclear plants where it arises.

The 5th General Radioactive Waste Plan adopted in 1999 states that no decision on the long-term management of used fuel and high-level waste is to be taken before 2010. Geologic disposal is being evaluated, as is separation and transmutation of long-lived radionuclides. The plan also calls for the construction of a centralised interim storage facility by 2010, to store vitrified wastes arising from reprocessing, used fuel that cannot be accommodated at nuclear plants, as well as other wastes that cannot be disposed of at the El Cabril low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal centre.

Waste management facilities

The El Cabril low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste near-surface disposal facility has been in operation since 1992. It is located in the municipal area of Hornachuelos in the northwest of the province of Córdoba. Its capacity is sufficient to last up to around 2020.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: National Agency for Radioactive Waste (Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radioactivos, S.A., Enresa) - www.enresa.es

Regulator for Federal facilities: Nuclear Safety Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear, CSN) - www.csn.es

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of the Treasury (Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda) - www.meh.es; Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino) - www.marm.es

Sweden

Ten nuclear power reactors (totalling almost 9 GWe capacity) accounted for over 40% of Sweden's total electricity production in 2008. The country's radioactive waste policy is for direct disposal of used fuel in crystalline bedrock.

Disposal status and facilities

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SKB) was formed by the owners of the nuclear power plants to manage and dispose of radioactive waste.

Low-level and short-lived intermediate-level operational waste is disposed of in the final repository for short-lived radioactive waste (known as SFR), located 50 metres beneath the bottom of the Baltic Sea adjacent to the Forsmark nuclear plant. Brought into operation in 1988, SFR contains four under­ground caverns and one silo.

Short-term storage facilities for used reactor fuel are available at all reactor sites. After about a year, the used fuel is transferred to a central interim storage facility (CLAB) on the Simpevarp peninsula near the Oskarshamn nuclear plant. CLAB has deep water basins in rock valults 30 metres below ground level where spent fuel is stored to make it easier to handle in a final repository.

The used fuel will eventually be placed in copper canisters and transported to the final repository that SKB plans to build at Östhammar near Forsmark. Feasibility studies of eight sites were completed in 2001. These studies led to site investigations that were commenced in 2002 in two municipalities: Oskarshamn (Simpevarp and Laxemar) and Östhammar (Forsmark). These investigations were completed in 2007.

SKB announced its decision to locate the repository at Östhammar, on the basis of it having the best geology, in June 2009.  In April it had signed an investment agreement with both volunteer municipalities specifying investment of SKR 2 billion (US$ 245 million) in the two, with the majority going to the unsuccessful bidder, which will thereby be disadvantaged financially. SKB expects to apply for a licence to construct the repository in 2010.  It plans to begin site works in 2013, with full construction starting in 2015, and operation in 2023.

Much of the research on the final repository for spent nuclear fuel was done at SKB's underground hard rock laboratory on the island of Äspö outside Oskarshamn. At the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Swedish and international experts are able to perform experiments at a depth of 500 metres in wet granite.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) - www.skb.se

Regulator: On 1 July 2008 the National Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) and the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute (SSI) were merged to form a joint authority, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority - www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se 

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of the Environment. An independent committee attached to the Ministry, the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste - www.karnavfallsradet.se, was established in 1985. The Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste was previously known as KASAM.

Switzerland

Five reactors (3.2 GWe total capacity) accounted for almost 40% of electricity production in 2008. The Swiss Federal Nuclear Energy Act stipulates that radioactive waste must be disposed of in Switzerland in a deep geological repository. Both reprocessing and direct disposal options are kept open; presently around one third of the expected spent fuel arisings are contracted for reprocessing.

Disposal status

The Federal Council adopted the conceptual part of the Deep Geological Repository sectoral plan in April 2008, initiating a three-step procedure that will result in the designation of suitable sites for deep geological repositories within ten years. The first step involves a list of proposals for suitable geological regions, which Nagra submitted in autumn 2008.

Six geological siting regions are proposed in Switzerland for a repository for low- and intermediate-level waste. The proposed siting regions – Südranden, Zürcher Weinland, North of Lägeren, Bözberg, Jura-Südfuss and Wellenberg – all have clay-rich sediments as a potential host rock.

Three of these siting regions – Zürcher Weinland, North of Lägeren and Bözberg - have also been identified for a repository for high-level waste.

Wellenberg had previously been selected for a low-and intermediate-level waste repository but in September 2002 the voters of the Nidwalden Canton rejected the development of an exploratory drift.

Waste management facilities

All four Swiss nuclear power plants have onsite waste treatment and conditioning facilities as well as stores for low- and intermediate-level operational waste. After removal from the reactor, the used fuel elements are stored for five to ten years at the sites, before being sent for interim storage.

All types of radioactive waste and spent fuel can be stored at the ZZL central storage facility owned and operated by the ZWILAG company in Würenlingen. The Federal Government's interim storage facility for waste from medicine, industry and research is located at the same site. The storage capacity is sufficient for all waste arising from the operation and decommissioning of the five nuclear power plants. This is also true for the waste from medicine, industry and research.

There is also an interim storage facility at the Beznau nuclear plant, known as ZWIBEZ. It consists of a storage hall for the storage of low-level operational waste from the Beznau plant, and a hall for dry storage of used fuel and vitrified high-level waste.

The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) operates the National Collection Centre for all non-nuclear radioactive waste, where the waste is sorted and conditioned. PSI also operates the Federal Storage Facility (BZL) at Würenlingen for this waste.

There are two rock laboratories in Swizerland. Nagra has its own rock laboratory - the Grimsel Test Site - on the Grimsel pass in the Canton of Bern and is involved in the programme at the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory in the Jura Canton; the latter is managed by the Federal Government (Federal Office of Topography).

Responsible agencies

Implementer: National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung radioaktiver Abfälle, Nagra) - www.nagra.ch

Regulator: Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (Eidgenössisches Nuklearsicherheitsinspektorat, ENSI)- www.ensi.ch ENSI was created under legislation adopted in 2007. ENSI's predecessor, HSK (Hauptabteilung für die Sicherheit der Kernanlagen) came under the Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE), which was also responsible for energy use. The nuclear inspectorate was removed from the SFOE in order to avoid any possible conflict of interest between safety and use of nuclear energy.

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE) - www.bfe.admin.ch 

United Kingdom

In 2008, nuclear power provided 13.4% of total electricity generation. There are 19 reactors in operation with a combined capacity of 10.1 GWe. All but one (the 1188 MWe Sizewell B PWR) of the existing reactors are due to be shut down by 2023, although several new reactors are planned.

The country has a policy of reprocessing, but is unlikely to reprocess all the used fuel from its AGR reactors and the PWR at Sizewell B. No decision has been made on whether new build used fuel will be reprocessed or sent for direct disposal.

In April 2005 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) formally took ownership of UK nuclear liabilities. The role of Nirex (originally known as the Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive) was transferred to the Radioactive Waste Management Directorate of the NDA in 2007.

Disposal status and facilities

Near-surface disposal of low-level waste in engineered vaults (Drigg in Cumbria) has been operational since 1959.

Following the refusal of planning permission for a rock characterisation facility for intermediate-level waste, in support of a deep geological repository in 1997, the UK Government initiated a consultation process to review best way ahead. The Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme began in 2001 with a public consultation on the process. As part of this process, an independent body - the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) - was established to look again at the options. In July 2006, CoRWM reported that geological disposal represented the best available long-term approach compared to other forms of management.

In June 2008, Government published the White Paper Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: A Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal, which sets out the Government's framework for the long-term management of higher activity wastes. The NDA's Radioactive Waste Management Directorate is responsible for the delivery of the geological disposal facility.

The UK has two reprocessing plants, both located at Sellafield in West Cumbria: B205 - for reprocessing metallic spent fuel from the Magnox stations; and THORP - for reprocessing oxide spent fuel from the UK and overseas. Sellafield has interim storage facilities and there are onsite waste storage at nuclear licensed sites across the UK.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) - www.nda.gov.uk

Regulators: The Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Directorate (formerly known as the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate) - www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear; Environment Agency (EA) - www.environment-agency.gov.uk; Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) - www.sepa.org.uk

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) - www.decc.gov.uk

United States of America

There are 104 operating nuclear units in the US, with a combined capacity of just over 100 GWe. In 2008, nuclear generated electricity accounted for almost 20% of total electricity production.

US policy since 1977 has been to forbid reprocessing of used fuel and to treat it all as high-level waste, which the government is responsible for finally disposing of in a deep geological repository. The policy on direct disposal of used fuel is being reconsidered and the country is looking at moving towards an advanced fuel cycle that involves recycling of used fuel.

Disposal status and facilities

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 stipulated that the US Department of Energy (DoE) is responsible for disposing of high-level waste/used fuel, with disposal "beginning not later than January 31, 1998." In December 1987, the Act was amended to designate the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada a permanent repository.

As of 2008, there was some 58,000 tonnes of civil used fuel awaiting disposal and about 12,800 tonnes of government used fuel and separated high-level wastes. The total increases by about 2500 tonnes per year. Should it go ahead, the Yucca Mountain facility would be licensed to hold 70,000 tonne high-level waste, although a high capacity is under consideration. Current plans would allow for disposal of 63,000 t of used reactor fuel, 2333 t of naval and DoE used fuel, and 4667 t of other high-level wastes, all from 126 sites in 39 US states.

In July 2002, the US Senate approved the development the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. An application to construct the repository was submitted by the DoE to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on June 3, 2008. The NRC may take three years to review the licence application review and may ask Congress for a fourth year. However, by early 2009, the new administration under President Barack Obama scaled back the Yucca Mountain programme "to those costs necessary to answer inquiries from the Nuclear regulatory Commission, while the Administration devises a new strategy toward nuclear waste disposal."¹Â 

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository for defence-related transuranic wastes, located underground in a salt formation in Carlsbad, New Mexico began disposal operations March 26, 1999.

Three low-level waste disposal facilities are also in operation at: Barnwell, South Carolina - operated by EnergySolutions; Richland, Washington - operated by American Ecology Corporation (formerly U.S. Ecology); and Clive, Utah - operated by EnergySolutions.

Responsible agencies

Implementer: DoE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management - www.ocrwm.doe.gov

Regulators: Nuclear Regulatory Commission - www.nrc.gov; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - www.epa.gov

Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: U.S. Department of Energy - www.doe.gov

Further Information

References 

1. A New Era of Responsibility - Renewing America’s Promise, page 65, Office of Management and Budget (2009). [Back]

Related information pages

Waste Management in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle