Nuclear Waste

Radioactive waste at U.S. nuclear power plants is mounting at a rate of more than 2,000 metric tons a years. Yet the Department of Energy (DOE) does not expect a geologic repository to be available before 2010. In response to concerns about how best to store the waste until a repository is available, GAO reviewed the alternatives of continued storage at utilities' reactor sites or transferring waste to a monitored retrievable storage facility. This report assesses the (1) likelihood of a monitored retrievable storage facility operating by 1998, (2) legal implications if DOE is unable to take delivery of wastes in 1998, (3) propriety of using the Nuclear Waste Fund--from which DOE's waste program costs are paid--to pay utilities for on-site storage capacity added after 1998, (4) the ability of utilities to store their waste on-site until a repository is operating, and (5) relative costs and safety of the two storage alternatives.

GAO found that: (1) DOE requested $100 million over the next 3 years to develop an MRS facility by 1998; (2) it is unlikely that an MRS facility will be operating by 1998, since the nuclear waste negotiator expects the negotiating and approval process to take considerable time, and Indian tribes and states are reluctant to host MRS facilities; (3) some utilities maintain that, if DOE cannot take delivery of waste by 1998, they will sue DOE; (4) DOE lacks a contingency plan in case it cannot begin accepting waste by 1998; (5) although some utilities argue that they are entitled to compensation from the Nuclear Waste Fund to store waste added after 1998, DOE maintains that federal legislation prohibits using the fund for that purpose; (6) utilities do not need an MRS facility to prevent premature plant shutdowns because of inadequate storage capacity, since evidence indicates that virtually all utilities have the capacity to store their wastes at nuclear plant sites through their licensed 40-year operating lives; (7) in the event that a utility cannot store all of its waste, DOE could provide utility-funded storage at an existing federal facility if Congress renewed the federal interim storage authority; and (8) studies have concluded that there are small differences between the costs and safety of storing waste at an MRS facility or at nuclear plants.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone: