Resources & Stats

This fact sheet explains why there is no similarity between used nuclear fuel rods safely stored at America’s nuclear energy facilities and DOE’s stockpile of radioactive waste from the nation’s weapons program.

February 2013
 
Key Facts

• Commercial reactor fuel is solid material, not liquid like the material at Hanford.
• Commercial reactor fuel is securely stored in steel-lined concrete vaults or steel and concrete containers above ground.
• Storage facilities at nuclear energy facilities are licensed and inspected by independent regulators.

 
Background
On Feb. 15, the Department of Energy announced that one of the 149 single-shell underground tanks of liquid high-level radioactive waste at its Hanford site in southeastern Washington state is leaking at the rate of “150 to 300 gallons over the course of a year.” DOE said that nearby monitoring wells have not identified any increases in radioactive materials in the soil; there are no near-term health threats.
 
There is no similarity between used nuclear fuel rods safely stored at America’s nuclear energy facilities and DOE’s stockpile of radioactive waste from the nation’s weapons program. 
 
DOE’s Hanford site was first established during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. Until the late 1980s, specialized nuclear reactors generated plutonium for the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. The process to extract plutonium from the reactors’ nuclear fuel resulted in 53 million gallons of liquid containing the dissolved remnants of the fuel. This liquid high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is stored in 177 large underground tanks at the site, including 149 that have single-shell walls. The newest tank designs have double-shelled walls to reduce the possibility of leaking.
 
In 1989, a tri-party agreement was signed among DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington state under which milestones were established for cleanup of the site. It was later decided to immobilize the liquid HLW into a stable solid form for final disposal and to build a facility at Hanford to turn the HLW into a solid glass form that could be safely stored in metal containers for an extended period until its ultimate disposal at a federal repository. Even though review of the construction license for the Yucca Mountain repository has been halted, the effort to convert this waste to glass continues. Construction of the waste treatment plant has been under way since 2002 and is expected to begin operations in 2019.
 
Comparison of Defense-Origin Liquid HLW With Commercial Reactor Used Nuclear Fuel

• Unlike the high-level radioactive liquid waste at Hanford, used commercial reactor fuel is a solid material.
   

• The reactors at the DOE sites that generated plutonium for the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal used specialized fuel that was meant to be dissolved when the plutonium was extracted. Records on the content and quantities of waste generated during the early years of the U.S. weapons program are not complete. By contrast, recordkeeping on the used nuclear fuel rods generated at commercial reactors is exacting. These records are an essential part of the fuel’s continued safe storage and eventual disposal.
   

• Used commercial reactor fuel is stored in extremely robust structures—steel-lined concrete pools and dry container storage systems. These structures provide radiation shielding, cooling and protection. Nuclear power plant fuel is stored for at least five years in specially designed pools that are robust concrete and steel structures designed to withstand severe events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Dry storage containers also are built of steel, steel-reinforced concrete or steel-enclosed concrete and cool the fuel using natural convection—without the need for moving parts. They also are designed to protect against severe natural events and sabotage.
   

• The storage tanks at Hanford were not envisioned for long-term use. Commercial used fuel storage containers are being used at 60 operating and shutdown reactor sites in 30 states, containing approximately 70,000 used fuel assemblies. They can be safely used for at least 80 years, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
  
   
• Electric companies that operate America’s reactors also monitor and maintain used fuel storage pools and dry container storage facilities, with independent oversight by the NRC, EPA and state environmental regulatory organizations.