Nuclear waste storage changing

Nuclear waste storage changing

TVA's decision to switch to dry-cask fuel system worries some

BY REBECCA FERRAR
ferrar@knews.com

TVA is running out of space to store radioactive waste at its nuclear plants and plans to spend millions of dollars on a new system called "dry-cask fuel" storage — a system critics say leaves the utility open to accidents and terrorist attacks.

Currently, high-level radioactive waste is stored in underwater storage racks at the bottom of steel-lined concrete pools inside buildings at the Sequoyah, Browns Ferry and Watts Bar nuclear plants. These pools were designed to be used until a permanent repository was built.

But those storage pools are running out of space, and TVA has already begun using the new storage method at the Sequoyah plant near Chattanooga, completing the process Aug. 3. The nuclear waste is transferred to a steel canister that is sealed in a concrete cask.

The new procedures are planned for the three units at Browns Ferry near Athens, Ala., from 2005 to 2009. The Watts Bar plant at Spring City is not expected to run out of space until 2018.

"We're running out of space, and we've known that for some time," TVA spokesman John Moulton said Wednesday. "The whole nuclear industry has known that, so that's why we're planning dry-cask storage. The waste problem is a challenge, and we'll have to deal with it."

The new casks are "proven, safe technology," Moulton said.

The reason nuclear plants are running out of storage space is that Department of Energy plans to transport the waste to a permanent storage facility at Yucca Mountain, Nev., have stalled because of opposition there.

"It has long been anticipated there might be delays of any permanent repository," said TVA Director Skila Harris. "That's why we've developed nuclear facilities that provide the kind of safety and security for spent fuel. TVA's first consideration is to ensure safety of its employees and the community."

TVA allows the spent fuel pools to get almost full before moving the radioactive rods to the dry casks — leaving only enough room to hold the spent fuel in the reactor.

David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C., says it would be safer to remove the fuel rods before the underwater pools get full.

"It's a security risk from both the safety and security standpoint," Lochbaum said. "That's the riskiest way to do it. If the water is drained away or a terrorist punches a hole in the container and causes it to drain out, the fuel can heat up and catch on fire or melt down."

That would result in a huge radiation leak, he said.

Nuclear plants should empty the pool before removing the spent fuel to give workers more time to respond to "an accident or an act of terror," Lochbaum said.

The UCS, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy based in Knoxville and other watchdog groups filed a petition last month with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, asking that the majority of boiling water reactors, like the ones at Browns Ferry, use the method advocated by UCS to store spent fuel.

Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist with the Nuclear Information Resource Service in Washington, D.C., agrees there are safety concerns using the dry-cask fuel storage method. The steel-lined concrete casks are lined up like "bowling pins" at nuclear plants using the method, Kamps said, making them an obvious target for terrorists. "It is a real concern about terrorist attacks," Kamps said.

Stephen Smith, executive director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said TVA and other nuclear plants switching to dry-cask storage shows the industry hasn't figured out what to do with its waste.

"They've gone round and round about Yucca Mountain, and science shows it's an unacceptable facility," Smith said. "They're (TVA) stacking up all this radioactive garbage outside their reactors on the banks of the Tennessee River."

The Browns Ferry, Sequoyah and Watts Bar plants are located on the Tennessee River.

Harris says there are "challenges" in every form of generation of electricity, including coal-fired power and even wind power. "Certainly when we use coal we have challenges with regard to air quality," she said. "There is no way to generate electricity that doesn't pose problems. What we are focused on is managing the issues related to all the different sources of generation to provide the safest most secure generation for this valley."

By law, Harris said, the Department of Energy was required to establish a repository to accept spent nuclear fuel for the nation's nuclear power industry.

"DOE has an obligation to take title to this fuel," Harris said. "DOE has failed to complete the permanent repository, and TVA has paid about $672 million to cover the cost of permanent storage. We've received favorable consideration in the courts to go to trial where it will be determined how much damages TVA is to be awarded as a result of DOE not taking our spent fuel."

Business writer Rebecca Ferrar may be reached at 865-342-6357.

BY THE NUMBERS

15
Metric tons of storage capacity of each cask

20
Other U.S. nuclear power plants using dry-cask storage

77
Metric tons of nuclear waste generated by TVA plants

$22.5 M
Cost of design and construction of storage facilities at each plant