Domenici Affirms his Strong Commitment to Yucca, the Cornerstone of a Comprehensive Spent Fuel Program
GNEP, interim storage, Yucca form the comprehensive program
August 3, 2006
10:48 AM
Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today affirmed his strong commitment to Yucca Mountain but expressed concern that Yucca, alone, can not meet the government’s spent fuel obligations. “Yucca Mountain is the cornerstone of a comprehensive spent nuclear fuel management strategy for this country. Let me be clear: We need Yucca Mountain. I want to fix this program and make it work,” he said in an opening statement at the beginning of the full committee’s legislative hearing on spent nuclear fuel held today at 10 a.m. in SD-628.
Domenici expressed concern about the “slippery” Yucca schedule. He said he was pleased by the Department of Energy’s new timeline but is concerned that it doesn’t allow any margin for further delays or establish a timeframe for moving all commercial fuel to the repository. DOE plans to move 3,000 metric tons a year to Yucca. At that pace, if the mountain opened in 2017 as DOE hopes, it will be 2040 before DOE transports all of the spent fuel existing today to the mountain. In the meantime, the country will continue to generate more spent fuel.
“If everything goes perfectly it will take over 30 years – longer than I have been in the Senate – to eliminate the backlog of spent fuel. In light of that, it only makes sense to look for additional ways for the government to meet its obligations,” he said.
“I have reached a few conclusions. Yucca must open. Even if Yucca Mountain opens on time, significant quantities of spent fuel will remain at reactor sites for many decades, thus the need for a practical interim solution.” Domenici said he had also concluded that “continuing to increase the authorized limit at Yucca Mountain, while a necessary step is not a complete solution.”
He concluded, “We must use the time we have before Yucca Mountain opens to look seriously at these terrific new technologies that can reduce the volume and toxicity of spent fuel . . . Yucca Mountain, GNEP and interim storage will establish a comprehensive program that will provide confidence that our nation’s nuclear waste will be managed safely both for current and future reactors
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