Center for Health, Environment and Justice
Everyone's Backyard
Science Feature
Nuclear Waste: No Solutions in Sight
Three decades after the first full scale nuclear power station went on line and four decades after an atomic explosion mushroomed over Hiroshima, Japan, we are still searching for a place to store the lethal legacy of the nuclear age.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), which manages nuclear waste disposal in the U.S., there are at least 20,000 metric tons of nuclear waste sitting in what are called "spent fuel pools" at the 109 operating and 20 closed nuclear plants around the country. By the year 2000, the total accumulated waste is expected to reach 50,000 metric tons. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which licenses power plants, almost all of these plants will reach their capacity for storage before the end of the decade.
In addition, many nuclear power plants are closing their doors well ahead of schedule because of skyrocketing maintenance and repair costs (see sidebar). Although the NRC issues licenses to power plants to operate for 40 years, they were never built to last this long. The average operating life of the 20 or so reactors that have been shut down has been around 13 years.
What the NRC ignored was that the equipment used to build power plants was only warranted by the manufacturer for 15 years or less. As a result, generator tubes are cracking, pipes are corroding and reactor vessels are becoming brittle. And rather than pay huge repair bills, plant owners are shutting down their reactors. An investment report by Shearson Lehman Bros. estimated that 25 of the 109 commercial operating nuclear reactors would close by the end of the decade because of soaring maintenance and repair costs. It's a matter of simple economics.
What happens when a nuclear plant is shut down? What happens to the nuclear waste generated by the plant and to the radioactive equipment? Right now, it all stays right there on site. There is nowhere to take it. Most nuclear facilities are holding onto their waste until a permanent nuclear waste facility is built. As a result, every nuclear power plant in this country has become a temporary nuclear waste disposal site. Those plants that close become museums largely untouched, waiting to be "decommissioned" and dismantled when a repository opens.
The basic problem with nuclear waste is that no one knows what to do with it. There's no way to destroy or detoxify it like you can with some chemical waste. Radiation will decay over time, but in most cases, this takes thousands of years. The waste from nuclear reactors, for example, will take 10,000 years to reach "safe" radioactive levels.
In the absence of a solution for what to do with nuclear waste, the NRC and DOE are trying to fool the public into believing they have an answer. With so-called low-level waste, the NRC has proposed classifying certain levels of radioactivity as "below regulatory concern" (BRC). This means that any waste with less than the selected levels of radioactivity (the numbers have not yet been set), could be disposed of in the nearest landfill, incinerator, water way or even sewer.
Nuclear waste watchdog groups like the Nuclear Information and Resource Service estimate that anywhere from 30-60% of the low- level radioactive waste generated in this country would be exempt from regulation if BRC becomes law. This effort to linguistically detoxify low-level radioactive waste is not a solution for what to do with nuclear waste. The waste still gives off dangerous radiation that enters the environment and threatens people's lives.
The NRC/DOE solution to high-level nuclear waste is to bury it in a "permanent disposal facility that is secure, inaccessible and well hidden." The selected site is at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This site was designated by Congress without public input leaving little doubt that politics, not science, is leading the way to making Yucca Mountain the nation's nuclear graveyard. Political problems abound because the Neweh (Shoshone) people of Nevada have long claimed legal rights to Yucca Mountain and still contest the government's theft of the land.
But it isn't clear that Yucca Mountain is the right site, so DOE plans on spending at least 10 years making sure it is. At the same time, they are going to start accepting waste at Yucca Mountain in a scaled down version of the large repository in what is called the "Exploratory Studies Facility" (ESF). Congress gave the DOE $49 million in 1993 to start building the ESF.
The basic problem with nuclear waste is that no one knows what to do with it. There's no way to destroy or detoxify it like you can with some chemical waste. Radiation will decay over time, but in most cses, this takes thousands of years. The waste from nuclear reactors, for example, will take 10,000 years to reach "safe" radioactive levels.
The truth is that NRC/DOE already know that Yucca Mountain is an unsuitable site. They know the geological formations will not contain the waste and that they will never be able to retrieve it if it fails. NRC/DOE admits the site will leak and that a person living 3 miles from the site would receive "less than 1 millirem of radiation per year.…" Although this estimate is small, it is based on DOE computer models full of assumptions. If you or I were doing the calculations the results would be very different.
They know Yucca Mountain won't work because it's in their own report. CCHW recently obtained a 1983 NRC report that clearly shows that NRC/DOE are well aware that the Yucca Mountain repository will fail. The report describes inherent technical problems in being able to contain, monitor, and retrieve nuclear waste placed 1,000 feet below the surface in a geological waste repository.
The report, "Assessment of Retrieval Alternatives for the Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste," prepared by Engineers International of Westmont, Illinois, evaluated 15 design concepts, mostly taken from DOE plans. Technical problems included the impact of heat generated from radioactive waste on containers, the difficulty in moving "hot" waste, the release of radioactivity into air and water caused by failure of a container and the collapse of walls or ceilings of storage rooms. The report doesn't even go into more fundamental problems with the site, which has seen a fair share of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. 10,000 years is a long time.
This report provides the agencies with all they need to know about the Yucca Mountain site. It won't work and they know it. Yucca Mountain probably won't last 50 years, let alone 10,000 years. Yucca Mountain is a disaster waiting to happen and NRC/DOE know it.
But NRC/DOE are moving forward anyway. Why? One reason could be the huge amount of money going to the agencies to study this site. Already $1.4 billion has been spent on Yucca Mountain. In 1993 alone, Congress gave DOE $245 million in fiscal year 1993, up from $182 million in 1992. One billion dollars can buy a lot of job security and keep a lot of government staffers and consultants happy and quiet. Another factor could be the pressure from the nuclear industry which needs a place to put its waste. They have enough influence, power, and money to get DOE and NRC to take care of their problem.
For a copy of the executive summary of the NRC report (21 pages), write to CCHW. In the meantime, get the word out about Yucca Mountain and NRC. Don't let NRC/DOE fool you into believing they have a solution to nuclear waste. The reality is that we have failed to come up with a way to adequately isolate and contain nuclear waste. The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Waste advocates putting nuclear waste in above ground monitored facilities "to emphasize to each generation its responsibility to monitor these waste for its own protection and that of future generations." We can also stop using nuclear power, the primary source of nuclear waste.
Nuclear Power Plants Dying Young
One by one nuclear power plants in this country are prematurely closing their doors. The reason is simple: it costs less to shut them down then pay enormous repair costs. In January, 1993, the Trojan nuclear power plant in Rainier, Oregon, closed down 18 years ahead of schedule rather than pay $200 million to replace cracked tubes in its steam generator. In November last year, the San Onofre Unit 1 near San Diego closed with 12 years left on its operating license rather than pay $125 million for needed repairs. The oldest power plant in the country, the Yankee Rowe, in Rowe, Massachusetts, closed in 1991 because the owners did not want to spend $23 million to repair its aging reactor. Plants near Suffolk, New York, and Platteville, Colorado all closed in 1989
for similar reasons.
Getting to Yucca Mountain
In 1982, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act making DOE responsible for locating, building and operating a permanent underground disposal facility. To pay for the research and siting of this facility, Congress established the Nuclear Waste Fund. Companies who generate nuclear waste pay into the fund. In reality, you and I pay into this fund because utilities that buy electricity from nuclear power plants simply pass this cost on to the consumer.
However, DOE made no progress in finding a suitable location largely due to public and community opposition. So, in 1987, Congress amended the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and directed DOE to study only one site located at Yucca Mountain, Nevada to determine whether this site was suitable for a permanent repository. And if the site is found to be unsuitable, studies will stop immediately. According to DOE, "if that happens, the site will be restored to its natural condition and DOE will seek new direction from Congress."
Beware, low-level does not mean low hazard. Low level waste is highly radioactive and will remain so for thousands of years. Most low-level waste comes from nuclear reactors, some from industry and the rest from hospitals, medical and research centers.
Originally published in Everyone's Backyard
Center For Health Environment and Justice
P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040
Phone: 703- 237-2249 - email: chej@chej.org
Website: http://www.chej.org