CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Highly radioactive materials are accumulating at nuclear power plant sites and other temporary storage areas throughout the United States. These materials, which remain potentially hazardous for hundreds to millions of years, must be isolated from the environment until their radioactivity decays to levels that will pose no significant threat to people or the environment. The lack of a demonstrated capability to permanently dispose of these materials has been a frequently cited obstacle to the continued use of nuclear power as a major energy source. To provide the necessary disposal facilities and establish a definite federal policy, the Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA). The act represents the culmination of 25 years of legislative effort to establish a comprehensive national program for the safe management, storage, and permanent (geologic) disposal of highly radioactive materials. The act also requires the Comptroller General to annually audit the efforts of the Department of Energy (DOE) to carry out the act. This report presents the results of our first annual audit. DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION OF HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE Generally, highly radioactive materials consist of (1) spent nuclear fuel from commercial reactors used for the production of electricity and (2) high-level wastes (either liquid or solid) remaining from the reprocessing2 of spent nuclear fuel from commercial reactors, or from the defense reactors used for the production of nuclear weapons material. Both types of material are extremely difficult to dispose of because of their high toxicity and long radioactive life. In addition, they produce heat, which complicates their safe disposal. Commercial spent fuel is currently stored in water-filled pools at the sites of nuclear power reactors. Inventories of spent fuel are expected to grow rapidly. For example, the Energy Information Administration in September 1983 estimated that the 9,000 metric tons of spent fuel discharged from nuclear power reactors up to the end of calendar year 1982 will double by 1989, triple by 1992, and quadruple by 1996. By 2020, almost 15 times more spent fuel could be discharged than in 1982. 1Spent nuclear fuel is the used uranium fuel that has been removed from a nuclear reactor. 2 Reprocessing is a chemical process to dissolve spent fuel elements to recover unused uranium and plutonium. The chemical solution remaining from this process is high-level liquid waste. In contrast, high-level wastes are currently stored in hundreds of large tanks, bins, or capsules at the sites of three federal reprocessing installations3 and one state-owned site4 in a variety of different physical forms, including liquid and sludge. Before this waste can be transported to a permanent repository, it must be put into a suitable solid form. To begin this process, DOE is constructing a facility that will convert the high-level waste at its Savannah River plant into a solid glass form. This facility is scheduled to begin operation in 1989, and its glass product represents the first high-level waste expected to be in a form ready for geologic disposal. Federal policies toward disposal vs. storage of highly radioactive materials In Federal policies have shifted frequently over the years and contributed to deteriorating public confidence in the government's ability to safely manage highly radioactive materials. In the 1950's and 1960's, tank storage was viewed as a possible final approach to managing high-level waste. However, questions arose about the cost and safety of this approach, and the former Atomic Energy Commission looked for alternative technical solutions. the mid-1960's, the Commission also tried to develop an underground geologic disposal facility at Lyons, Kansas. Plans to develop this facility were abandoned in 1972 following questions concerning the site's ability to safely contain waste. The Commission next proposed storage of high-level waste in retrievable surface storage facilities until geologic disposal received greater public acceptance. Since withdrawal of a proposed congressional authorization for such storage facilities in 1975, federal activity has concentrated primarily on the development of mined geologic repositories with interim storage of spent fuel to be provided by the generators.5 In May 1981, DOE selected mined geologic repositories as the preferred means for disposal of highly radioactive materials. This decision was made after DOE had evaluated various alternative 3These three sites are the Hanford Reservation in Washington, the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in Idaho, and the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina. 4Western New York Nuclear Service Center in West Valley, New York. This high-level waste resulted from a commercial reprocessing plant at the site which operated from 1966 to 1972. New York State subsequently assumed responsibility for the wastes. 5An exception occurred in 1977 when President Carter proposed government-owned, away-from-reactor spent fuel storage which utilities would pay for, but the Congress did not pass the necessary enabling legislation. means and issued an environmental impact statement. The materials would be emplaced in stable geologic rock formations 1,100 to 4,000 feet below ground. Without relying on human monitoring and maintenance, such geologic repositories are intended to provide long-term isolation of these materials to prevent radioactivity from entering the environment. In August 1984, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed a rulemaking proceeding,6 which found, among other things, reasonable assurance that safe disposal of highly radioactive materials from nuclear power reactors in a mined geologic repository is technically feasible. THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1982 NWPA was passed in the closing days of the 97th Congress and signed into law by the President on January 7, 1983.7 In NWPA, the Congress recognized that ". . Federal efforts during the past 30 years to devise a permanent solution to the problems of civilian radioactive waste disposal have not been adequate." To provide the facilities for the permanent disposal of both spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes, the act established --a tight schedule for the siting of two geologic repositories and the construction and operation of the first repository, --special financing arrangements, --a planning and development process that includes state and public participation, and --a definite federal policy and responsibility for the permanent disposal of these materials. NWPA does not distinguish between spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes for purposes of developing geologic repositories. It would permit the permanent disposal in geologic repositories of both unreprocessed spent fuel and the high-level wastes resulting from reprocessing spent fuel. However, because there are no firm industry plans for commercial reprocessing, spent fuel is the predominant commercial waste form available for disposal in a repository. 6This rulemaking was initiated by NRC in October 1979 and has become known as the "Waste Confidence Rulemaking." NRC's final decision was published in the Federal Register on August 31, 1984 (49 Fed. Reg. 34658). 7Public Law 97-425, 96 Stat. 2201, 42 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. |