Key Issues
Integrated Used Fuel Management
Under an integrated management approach, used nuclear fuel will remain stored at nuclear power plants in the near term. Eventually, the government will recycle it and place the unusable end product in a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
Used Nuclear Fuel Is Solid and Compact
Used nuclear fuel consists of small ceramic uranium fuel pellets. All the used nuclear fuel produced by the U.S. nuclear energy industry in nearly 50 years—if stacked end to end—would cover an area the size of a football field to a depth of less than 10 yards.
Near- and Long-Term Plans for Managing Used Fuel
Currently, used nuclear fuel is safely stored at nuclear plant sites, either in steel-lined, concrete vaults filled with water or in airtight steel or steel-reinforced concrete containers with steel inner canisters. Diligent monitoring and maintenance of safety systems ensures that the fuel is safely stored.Although the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined that used fuel could remain in safe storage at plant sites for 100 years, such storage was never intended to be permanent. Rather, this storage is temporary—one component of an integrated used fuel management system that the nuclear energy industry believes is essential.
Components of an Integrated Management System
- interim storage of used fuel at a government-operated storage facility
- advanced fuel reprocessing and recycling of used fuel to reduce the volume, heat and toxicity of nuclear waste and recover useful materials
- permanent disposal of the byproducts of recycling and used nuclear fuel at a deep geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.
