A Blue Ribbon Commission was named Friday to recommend what the nation should do not only with its spent commercial nuclear fuel but also weapons waste, such as the glassified high-level waste from Hanford's vitrification plant.
The waste was expected to go to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository until President Obama said last year that the Nevada site was not suitable. The nation has spent $10 billion to $12 billion over the past 25 years to study the site.
The commission will look at options for storing, processing and disposing of the waste, which are expected to include reprocessing commercial nuclear fuel that now is used just once in U.S. reactors.
The commission should consider "a broad range of technological and policy alternatives, and should analyze the scientific, environmental, budgetary, economic, financial and management issues, among others, surrounding each alternative it considers," said a memorandum from the president to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
The president called for "building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country," during his State of the Union speech earlier this week.
The commission has been assigned to produce an interim report within 18 months and a final report in two years.
It will be led by Lee Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman, and retired Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who was a national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
They have a "record of tackling tough challenges in a thoughtful, comprehensive manner and building consensus among an array of interests," according to a DOE statement.
The 15 commission members include former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who the Tri-City Development Council had hoped would be appointed, said Gary Petersen, TRIDEC vice president of Hanford programs.
Domenici has broad knowledge not only of commercial nuclear waste but also an understanding of weapons complex waste, such as Hanford's, Petersen said.
Even if the decision is to reuse commercial nuclear waste, the nation still must have a plan for disposing of Hanford's high-level radioactive waste, he said. TRIDEC does not want that waste to stay at Hanford by default.
Petersen also was pleased with the appointment of Mark Ayers, the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department president. Ayers is well known by the local building trades community.
The list does not include any state or local government representatives, even though the Energy Communities Alliance, which includes the Hanford Communities, had asked for a seat at the table for a local government representative. The alliance wanted a local representative at the table because sites such as Hanford are at risk of becoming long-term storage sites for high-level radioactive waste.
The 15 commission members represent "a range of expertise and experience in nuclear issues, including scientists, industry representatives and respected former elected officials," according to DOE.
The full list is posted at energy.gov/news/8584.htm.
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