ANS joins others in seeking to discuss SNF/HLW impasse

According to the signatories, a functional waste management program would “result in an immense savings to the U.S. taxpayers.” The letter notes that the taxpayers are on the hook for an estimated $37.6 billion to $44.5 billion in remaining federal costs for the failure to find a disposal path for commercial SNF, while the DOE’s own cost for managing its own legacy HLW and SNF has surpassed $23 billion and is growing. “Moreover, continued inaction on SNF and HLW will impair the ability of the country to carry out vital cleanup and national security missions and may inhibit new nuclear development,” the letter continues.

Joining ANS in signing the letter are the Decommissioning Plant Coalition, the Energy Communities Alliance, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, the Sustainable Fuel Cycle Task Force Science Panel, and the United States Nuclear Industry Council.

Call to action: In seeking a path forward, the signatories offer that the establishment of a successful, multigenerational waste management program is dependent on a few key principles and issues. These include the development of the following:

• A governance and funding structure that maximizes opportunities for sustained performance over the decades required for completion of this program, including:

o an interim step to reestablish an office within the DOE that reports directly to the secretary of energy and is solely responsible for the back end of the fuel cycle;

o the formation of a new, single-purpose organization—independent of the DOE—to manage the SNF and HLW program long-term; and

o sustainable, annual access to the Nuclear Waste Fund balance and accumulating interest to effectively implement the program.

• An integrated program that includes storage, transportation, examination of the role for reprocessing, and geologic disposal elements.

• A collaborative process that brings about necessary alignment of federal, state, local, and Tribal governments on the siting of necessary facilities.