The Department of Energy will prepare a report this year on the future of high-level radioactive waste, new Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.
That should give the Mid-Columbia a better idea of the future of Hanford's worst radioactive waste, now stored in underground tanks.
Chu was grilled this week at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, after saying that Yucca Mountain, Nev., will not be used as the nation's repository for high-level radioactive waste.
The nation's used fuel from power production and Department of Energy high-level waste, including Hanford's, is required to go to a national waste repository. Yucca Mountain was the only site that was being developed for high-level waste.
The Idaho National Laboratory also has waste that would have been sent to Yucca Mountain, Risch said. If it won't be sent to Yucca Mountain, then where will it be sent, Risch asked.
But Chu had few details to offer as Risch repeatedly pressed for more information.
"There are other options we'll have to look at and quite frankly I think there would be better options," Chu said.
However, he'll want to "seek advice of some deeply knowledgeable people."
When Risch asked what those options are, Chu said there could be a mixture of shorter term sites, plus longer term sites and then final disposition.
"I think it will have to be geographically distributed in some way," Chu said. "One location, one site will probably not work."
Those locations have not been identified, he said, but DOE will prepare a report this year.
Hanford expects to start turning its high-level radioactive waste now held in underground tanks into glass logs in 2019 when the vitrification plant opens. The glassified logs are planned to be disposed of off site at a national repository for high-level radioactive waste.
Hanford officials now are looking at where to store the vitrified waste in the short term. The Hanford Advisory Board has warned that DOE needs to have facilities in place to store the glass log for decades, but not permanently, because of delays in opening a national repository for the waste.
DOE is considering retrofitting the Canister Storage Building or constructing a new building for the short-term storage.
Improvements to the Canister Storage Building at Hanford to hold about 880 canisters of waste, or two years' output from the vit plant, would cost about the same as constructing a new building that would hold about 2,000 canisters, according to preliminary estimates. Both could cost roughly $175 million.
The Canister Storage Building could be expanded to make room for about 4,000 additional canisters or the new building could be expanded to hold a total of 12,000 canisters, according to early plans.
DOE has instructed its contractor Washington River Protection Solutions to prepare an up-to-date and more detailed cost estimate on the options.
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Temporary storage proposed for vit plant waste
Temporary storage proposed for vit plant waste
Hanford contractor officials are proposing a temporary storage system for Hanford's treated high-level radioactive waste that easily can be expanded, given uncertainties about the nation's plans for a national waste repository.
Washington River Protection Solutions formed an independent review team that is recommending a new Hanford building large enough to store as much high-level radioactive waste as the Hanford vitrification plant is expected to treat in a decade. But if needed, more vaults could be added.
The initial plans do not include a shipping facility. Given austere federal budget conditions, it makes sense to wait to add that when the nation is ready to ship the waste, said Tom Fletcher, Department of Energy acting assistant manager of the Hanford tank farms.
Blue Ribbon Commission says U.S. should start looking for Yucca alternative
Blue Ribbon Commission says U.S. should start looking for Yucca alternative
WASHINGTON -- The United States should immediately start looking for an alternative to replace the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, which cost an estimated
$15 billion but was never completed, a presidential commission said Thursday.
In its final report, the 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission recommended immediate efforts to develop at least one geologic disposal facility for long-term handling of nuclear waste. Any effort to site a disposal facility must have community support, it said.
The report also suggested building regional storage sites that would be open for up to 100 years while officials seek to complete a permanent burial site.
Panel urges handling Hanford waste
Panel urges handling Hanford waste
The possibility of disposing of Hanford's high-level radioactive waste while a solution continues to be worked out for spent commercial nuclear fuel was raised Thursday at a Senate hearing.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., questioned leaders of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future on its findings at a hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. On Wednesday, Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., a candidate for governor, questioned commission leaders at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Economy.
The commission issued its final recommendation last week, calling for the nation to look for a location "by consensus" where a new national repository for high-level defense waste and used commercial fuel will be welcome. It also called for the development of storage sites to be used in the meantime.
Panel: Start now to replace Nevada nuke site
Panel: Start now to replace Nevada nuke site
The United States should immediately start looking for an alternative to replace the failed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada, which cost an estimated $15 billion but was never completed, a presidential commission said Thursday.
McKenna suit prods
U.S. to keep its word
McKenna suit prods
U.S. to keep its word
State Attorney General Rob McKenna is proving to be a problem for the Obama administration as it tries to shut down Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository.
Rebuffed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the state's original lawsuit over the administration's unilateral decision to abandon the site, the Republican attorney general looked to his law books and, guess what?
He's back.
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