The Yucca Mountain Repository for Nuclear Waste June Edward F. Sproat III Director Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management U.S. Department of Energy Presented to: Role of Nuclear Power Workshop Washington and Lee University 2 Agenda Yucca Mountain Repository Why Yucca Mountain? What is Going There? What is the Process to Get It Open? Impact on the Future of Nuclear Power 3 Geologic Disposal Addresses Multiple Missions Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposition of Naval Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Support of Nonproliferation Initiatives, e.g. Disposal of DOE Foreign Research Reactor Spent Fuel Defense Complex Clean-Up Locations of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste 4 Spent Fuel Statistics Or, spent fuel is stored in above- ground dry casks Spent fuel is stored in large pools of water to shield its radioactive properties Spent Fuel Assembly Nuclear power plants are producing about 20% of the electricity in the U.S. 72 plant sites with spent fuel 39 states with spent fuel 53,440 metric tons of spent fuel existed in December 2005 119,000 metric tons of spent fuel projected by 2035 Five Department of Energy (DOE) sites with spent fuel 5 Congress Created a Legal Obligation to Dispose of Nuclear Waste Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) established the national policy for the disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste Congress directed DOE to characterize only the Yucca Mountain site The Secretary of Energy and the President recommended, and Congress approved, the Yucca Mountain site for development of a repository License to Receive & Possess Waste Construction Authorization License Application June 2008 Congress Approved Site President Recommended Site 2002 Secretary Recommended Site 2002 Viability Assessment 1998 YM only site to be characterized Nuclear Waste Policy Act Actions Completed Next Step 7 Location of Yucca Mountain, Nevada 8 Yucca Mountain Surface at Exploratory Studies Facility Portals North Portal South Portal 9 Yucca Mountain Subsurface Overview South Portal North Portal Repository Level Repository Level 1,000 Feet 1,000 Feet Water Table 1,000 Feet 1,000 Feet Surface Transporting Containers by Rail Access Tunnel Permanent Waste Packages Mechanical Support Inner Barrier Protective Outer Barrier Various Permanent Waste Packages Remote Control Locomotive 10 Best Achievable Schedule Program Key Milestones License Application Design Complete- Nov LSN Certification- December 2007 Supplemental EIS- May 2008 License Application Submittal- June 2008 YM Construction Authorization- September 2011 Operating License Submittal- March 2013 Begin Receipt- March 2017 11 Nuclear Powers Future Current operating civilian fleet of 104 reactors To date, the licenses of 39 nuclear power plants have been renewed. The applications of an additional 12 are under review, and the owners of 27 more have expressed the intention to file. U.S. utilities have announced interest in construction of around 30 new nuclear power plants. Many consider Yucca Mountain key to nuclear expansion