Nuclear plant owner appealing permit denial for spent fuel storage expansion

April 18--SALEM TWP. -- Used nuclear fuel has to go somewhere, but with no permanent disposal facilities available, nuclear power plants have to hold onto it for the foreseeable future.

To that end, Talen Generation LLC, owner of the Susquehanna Steam nuclear power plant, applied for a permit to build a 22,000-square-foot addition to the spent fuel storage installation already at the facility.

Salem Township Zoning Officer
Karen Karchner said she denied the permit application because it isn't allowed in an I-3 Special Industrial District.

"Hazardous waste storage is not permitted in the zoning district they are located in," she said.

Karchner wouldn't give any further information because she said she can't discuss legal issues, which both sides will bring before the zoning hearing board. Talen appealed the denial of the permit, and the board will hold a hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the municipal building, 38 Bomboy Lane.

Talen spokesman
Todd Martin said Susquehanna Steam has had a spent fuel storage facility within the secure perimeter of the plant for a long time. The company sought permits in order to modify and expand the existing facility to accommodate storage needs for years to come, he said.

Spent nuclear fuel is stored in an enclosed pool of water for at least a year until it cools, then is transferred to "dry storage," where it is sealed in a cask, usually a steel cylinder kept in a concrete vault.

"There is a great deal of consistency across the nuclear industry," Martin said. "There is some similar form of dry fuel storage in every nuclear plant in the United States."

The trouble is, there's nowhere else to put it -- at least for now. And that's a problem all the nuclear facilities in the nation are awaiting a federal solution for, Martin says.

No permanent disposal

After they are used in power generation, nuclear fuel rods -- long metal tubes containing small fuel pellets -- are still radioactive, containing mostly uranium and around 1 percent plutonium.

Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982, which tasks the U.S. Department of Energy with constructing a repository for high-level radioactive waste including that generated by nuclear power plants, the Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Energy Institute's website states.

To cover costs, the legislation established a fund to which consumers of electricity produced at nuclear power plants pay one-tenth of a cent for every kilowatt hour used.

The Nuclear Energy Institute puts the fund level at more than $29 billion as of May 2013; fees accumulate at a rate of $750 million a year, and the fund accrues more than

$1 billion in interest annually. Data provided by the Institute shows Illinois, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, in that order, are the largest contributors to the fund, payments being based on nuclear plant generation of metric tons of uranium.

However, there are currently no permanent disposal facilities for high-level nuclear waste in the United States, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

One site under consideration as a permanent repository is Yucca Mountain, Nevada. NRC Public Affairs Officer
Neil Sheehan said via email that two other sites -- one in Texas, one in New Mexico -- are being discussed as possibilities for interim storage facilities.

"We have not yet received an application for either, though we have received a letter of intent from one of them," he stated.

The federal government is also continuing to review the Yucca Mountain application, but, he said, "We have made clear to Congress that we do not have sufficient funding at this point to complete our reviews."

He added, "Also, the U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year began a series of meetings across the country to discuss a new 'consent-based' process for choosing a site for a federal repository for high-level nuclear waste. 'Consent-based' means (the Department of Energy) would ask if there were any communities interested in hosting such a facility. There would be financial incentives for any community that agreed to do so."

In the meantime, spent fuel has to be stored onsite at the nuclear plants, a problem that Martin points out is not unique to Susquehanna Steam.

Nuclear facility operators around the nation are taking steps to store their own used fuel safely and securely until the federal government comes up with a solution, he said.

"We anticipate, going forward, being able to receive the spent fuel that does not have a final destination per the federal plan," Martin said.

So Talen intends to follow the appropriate steps to get the required permits for enlarging the existing facility, Martin said.

"We have a good working relationship with the township," he said.

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072

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