“Applications of nuclear fission…have produced immeasurable benefits for our society. They have also resulted in a large and growing inventory of used nuclear fuel…The commercial nuclear industry and the federal government have demonstrated that they can safely and securely store used nuclear fuel.”
—Henry B. Barron, Constellation Energy Nuclear Group President and CEO, Sept. 12, 2012
Uranium fuel is remarkably dense in energy and can be recycled. One uranium fuel pellet, which weighs about 7 grams, provides as much energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 1,780 pounds of coal or 149 gallons of oil. All of the used nuclear fuel produced by the U.S. nuclear energy industry in 50 years of operation—approximately 67,500 metric tons—would, if stacked end to end, cover an area the size of a football field to a depth of about seven yards.
In addition, the industry has an exemplary safety record for transporting used nuclear fuel. These shipments have covered 1.7 million miles with no injuries, fatalities or environmental damage resulting from the radioactivity of the cargo. Three-Part Used Fuel Management Strategy The nuclear energy industry supports a three-pronged, integrated used fuel management strategy. The three parts of the strategy are:
With regard to a permanent disposal facility, the nuclear energy industry supports establishing a self-sustaining, quasi-government entity—a federal corporation—to manage the federal government’s responsibilities for used fuel and radioactive waste management. Nonproliferation Commercial nuclear reactors pose little proliferation risk. To combat the threat of proliferation, the international nuclear energy community has put in place robust, redundant controls to ensure that it can fully account for nuclear materials manufactured for the production of electricity, along with their byproducts.
Safely Managing Used Nuclear Fuel This interactive graphic and fact sheet detail how used fuel is stored safely at nuclear power plant sites. Used Fuel Management Brochure This short brochure illustrates how used nuclear fuel is managed. It includes the sections: "Storing Used Fuel On-Site," "The Need for Consolidated Storage" and "What Is Nuclear Fuel?" White Paper – An Integrated Approach to Used Nuclear Fuel Management This NEI white paper describes current used nuclear fuel management and an integrated approach to handling it, in the future. Also includes a section on the 2012’s bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission to reassess the federal government’s program to manage used nuclear fuel, recommendations on used fuel strategy and used fuel performance during the Fukushima accident in Japan. State-by-State Used Fuel Inventory and Payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund These tables summarize states’ commercial nuclear used fuel and their payments to the Nuclear Waste Fund. Other tables show the amount, in metric tons, of the used nuclear fuel stored in each state. Experience, Testing Confirm Transportation of Used Nuclear Fuel Is Safe, Reliable This fact sheet explains that the nuclear energy industry has completed more than 3,000 shipments of used nuclear fuel over the past 40 years with no injuries, fatalities or environmental damage as a result of the radioactive nature of the cargo, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Used Fuel Storage Pools at Nuclear Power Plants When nuclear fuel is removed from a reactor, it is transferred into steel-lined concrete pools of water for cooling and storage. Pools are a safe way to store radioactive fuel from a reactor. This fact sheet describes the pools and the process of moving, storing and removing used nuclear fuel from them.
Nonproliferation Preventing the Proliferation of Nuclear Materials This fact sheet details the efforts of the international community to prevent the proliferation of nuclear materials and components that could possibly be used to construct weaponry.
Centralized Dry Storage of Nuclear Fuel: Lessons for U.S. Policy from Industry Experience and Fukushima by The Brattle Group, August 2012. This white paper concludes that the “knowledge and technology to produce a safe and successful [used fuel] program at a reasonable cost already exist” and that “the U.S. government should find the political will to act soon.”