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Nuclear Storage Capacity
By: Mariah Harrod
1) As you know, there still is no agreementon a permanentstorage site for nuclear wastes. Last I
heard, the wastes were being stored atthe nuclear plants. How close are we to reaching the
storage capacity ofthe plants?
The Energy Reorganization Actof 1974 established the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(USNRC) to replace the Atomic Energy Commission (ACE).1 The USNRC reviews reactor safety, issues
licenses for new and existing plants, and oversees waste-managementofvarious levels ofradioactive
substances.2 High-level waste denotes the extremely radioactive material produced by nuclear fission and
includes the hot fuel rods carrying the reacting isotopic pelletas well as the waste remaining after the spent
fuel is reprocessed.3 Low-level waste—as itpertains to nuclear energy—includes articles ofclothing,
cleaning materials, reactor water, filters, equipment, and other items exposed to radiation.4 According to the
USNRC, two methods existfor storing high-level waste. The primary solution retains waste underneath
water at the reactor site; as opposed to these “spentfuel pools,” “dry cask storage” provides alternate,
above-ground storage for excess waste already cooled a few years below the water.5 Commercial facilities
stow away low-level waste in one of four existing facilities within the nation.6
As of January 2016, a total of 61 active commercial nuclear power plants operate within the United
States.7 Mostare located along the eastcoast, southeast, and Midwest.8 Together, these reactors account
1 “History.” UNRC. 2015. www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/history.html
2 “History.” UNRC. 2015. www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/history.html
3 “High-Level Nuclear Waste.” UNRC. 2015. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/high-level-waste.html
4 “Low-Level Nuclear Waste.” UNRC. 2015. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/low-level-waste.html
5 “Storage of Spent Energy Fuel.” UNRC. 2016. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage.html
6 “On-Site Storage of Nuclear Waste.” NEI. http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/On-Site-Storage-of-Nuclear-
Waste
7 “FAQs.” EIA. 2016. http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=207&t=3
8 Walter Rosenbaum. American Energy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 2015. 122.

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for 22 percentof United States’ electrical generation.9 The federal governmenthas continued to encourage
these pursuits through subsidies and grants yetflopped on providing storage for spentnuclear fuel (post-
fission rods).10 Amidstthe controversy ofconstructing the Yucca Mountain repository, the 1982 Nuclear
Policy Actmandate for the U.S. Department of Energy to dispose ofspentrods and high level radioactive
waste remains unmet.11 Thus, mostcommercial nuclear waste—about73%—resides within on-site pools.12
However, the new addition ofdry cask storage for fuel rods cooled by the pools provides some buffer for
limited waste spaces. The latestdata totals spentnuclear fuel (high-level waste) at just around 70,000
metric tons uranium.13 This puts pool storage at50,000 metric tons and dry cask storage at 20,000 metric
tons.14 According to the USNRC, many of these pools are reaching capacity:
Figure 1 “Nuclear Fuel Pool Storage” USNRC. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/nuc-fuel-
pool.html
9 Walter Rosenbaum. American Energy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 2015. 122.
10 Walter Rosenbaum. American Energy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 2015. 124–128.
11 Lorraine Bailey. “DOE Sued.” Courthouse News Service. 2016. http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/05/19/doe-sued-for-
40m-over-nuclear-waste-storage.htm
12 Walter Rosenbaum. American Energy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 2015. 128; James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel
Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
13 Bruce Finley. “Colorado & Nation Face 70,000-ton Nuclear Waste Burden.” Denver Post. 2016.
http://www.yuccamountain.org/pdf-news/denver-2016.pdf; “Spent Nuclear Fuel.” EIA. 2015.
http://www.eia.gov/nuclear/spent_fuel/
14 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf

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All nuclear plants have pools to store this waste following fission, though their sizes, structures,
and capacities vary.15 The storage capacity ofmostspentfuel pools in the United States ranges between
2,000-5,000 assemblies (fuel rods inside their canisters).16 Nuclear reactors produced 241,468 assemblies
from 1968-2013 at a current rate ofabout 7,500 per year.17 These 61 active power plants tend to keep
pools three-quarters full to provide room for a minimum of one extra fuel rod if immediate storage is
needed.18 However, an increasing production rate coupled with the legal mandate ofwet storage a
minimum of3 years for cooling puts pressure on nuclear power companies lacking NPA-assured
governmental storage, thus the construction of dry storage.19
As of 2012, a total of 27 sites had spentfuel pools butno dry cask storage.20 These sites likely
used an independentdry cask storage site—such as the Idaho National Environmental and Engineering
Laboratory—for their cooled rods. Some ofthis high-level waste is even stored atshut-down reactors or at
the few Department of Energy dry storage locations available.21 These dry casks are becoming increasingly
common on-site as nuclear plants annually generate 2,200 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste.22 Like
fuel pools, dry storage building structure, size, and capacity varies. One commonly used cask weighs 22
tons and holds 22 tons ofspentfuel waste.23 The largestcasks currently in use hold a maximum of 40
pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies or 68 boiling water reactor spentfuel assemblies.24
15 “Spent Fuel Storage in Pools and Dry Casks.” USNRC. 2015. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/faqs.html
16 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
17 “Spent Nuclear Fuel.” EIA. 2015. http://www.eia.gov/nuclear/spent_fuel/
18 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
19 “Spent Fuel Storage in Pools and Dry Casks.” USNRC. 2015. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/faqs.html
20 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
21 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
22 Andrew C. Kadak. “Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel.” The Bridge on Managing Nuclear Waste. 42 (2): 2012. 25.
23 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
24 James D. Werner. “U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage.” CRS. 2012. http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf

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 More info on current dry cask storage (this was over my head, butmaybe you can make sense of
it): https://curie.ornl.gov/system/files/documents/not%20yet%20assigned/FCRD-NFST-2014-
000602,%20Dry%20Cask%20Assessment,%20Rev%201.pdf
 More info on storage: https://www.nae.edu/File.aspx?id=60739
-Additionally, low-level waste mustbe stored elsewhere.This includes medical waste and anything
contaminated by radioactive material. 3 sites are listed on the USNRC website:
http://www.nrc.gov/waste/llw-disposal/licensing/statistics.html
 limit under NWPA that first federal repository cannothold more than 70,000 MTU before second
built. Nuclear waste has already exceeded such an amount, & law mandates some ofthe
repository storage mustbe leftfor military nuclear waste (not commercial):
http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42513.pdf
o “Nuclear weapons production and other defense-related activities have resulted in about
13,000 metric tons ofspentnuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste.”
http://www.gao.gov/key_issues/disposal_of_highlevel_nuclear_waste/issue_summary
Some typical pricing stats for nuclear:
http://www.gao.gov/key_issues/disposal_of_highlevel_nuclear_waste/issue_summary
Info on France’s disposal:
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=urceu
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/appendices/radioactive-
waste-management-appendix-2-storage-an.aspx
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26425674

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Bibliography
Bailey, Lorraine. “DOE Sued for $40M Over Nuclear Waste Storage.” Courthouse News Service. 19 May
2016. http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/05/19/doe-sued-for-40m-over-nuclear-waste-
storage.htm (Accessed on 13 June 2016)
“Dry Cask Storage.” United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 16 Sep. 2015.
http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/dry-cask-storage.html (Accessed on 12 June 2016)
“Dry Storage Cask Inventory Assessment.” Fuel Cycle Research & Development. 31 Aug. 2015.
https://curie.ornl.gov/system/files/documents/not%20yet%20assigned/FCRD-NFST-2014-
000602,%20Dry%20Cask%20Assessment,%20Rev%201.pdf(Accessed on 17 June 2016)
Finley, Bruce. “Colorado and Nation Face 70,000-ton Nuclear Waste Burden.” Denver Post. 24 May 2016.
http://www.yuccamountain.org/pdf-news/denver-2016.pdf (Accessed 15 June 2016)
“FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: How many nuclear power plants are in the United States, and
where are they located?” United States Energy Information Administration. 27 Jan. 2016.
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(Accessed on 12 June 2016)
Kadak, Andrew C. “Storage of SpentNuclear Fuel.” The Bridge on Managing Nuclear Waste. 42 (2): 2012.
23-30. https://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/59220/59226.aspx
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“Nuclear Fuel Pool Capacity.” United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 18 Nov. 2015.
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Rosenbaum, Walter A. “Nuclear Energy.” American Energy: The Politics of the 21st Century.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. 2015. 119–142.

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“SpentFuel Storage in Pools and Dry Casks: Key Points and Questions & Answers.” United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/faqs.html
(Accessed on 17 June 2016)
“SpentNuclear Fuel.” United States Energy Information Administration. 7 Dec. 2015.
http://www.eia.gov/nuclear/spent_fuel/ (Accessed on 13 June 2016)
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Werner, James D. “U.S. SpentNuclear Fuel Storage.” Congressional Research Service. 24 May 2012.
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