NRC Will Study Environmental Impact of Temporary On-Site Storage of Nuclear Waste

For towns near Dominion's Millstone Nuclear Power Plant, which include the plant's most immediate neighbors in East Lyme and Waterford but extends to the region really, . 

With no alternative in sight, This raises concerns for many people who live in the vicinity and yesterday, Attorney General George Jepsen decided to weigh in on that particular issue.  

Jepsen said he supports a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission order to its staff to develop an environmental impact statement (EIS) and a revised waste confidence rule on the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel.  

“This action affirms the position Connecticut and other states have taken for years – that the environmental impact needs to be assessed before any decision is made to allow longer storage of spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites,” Attorney General Jepsen said. “We look forward to working with the NRC in this process.”

Here's the press release the Attorney General sent out yesterday explaining some of the background that prompted this move.  

The NRC was responding to a landmark decision June 8, by U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, following a successful challenge by Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Vermont and several other states to the NRC’s revised waste confidence rule, which allowed spent nuclear fuel to be stored at reactor sites for up to 60 years after the plants shut down.

The court said the NRC’s December 2010 rule change was a “major federal action necessitating either an environmental impact statement or finding of no significant environmental impact” as required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

The NRC directed its staff Thursday to develop — within the next two years — an environmental impact statement, as well as a revised waste confidence decision and rule on the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel.

According to the NRC “waste confidence” is a generic finding that spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored for decades beyond the licensed operating life of a reactor without significant environmental effects. Prior to the December 2010 revision, fuel could be stored on site for up to 30 years after a reactor closed.

The NRC said the rule enables the agency to license reactors or renew their licenses without examining the effects of extended waste storage for each individual site.

Connecticut has two operating nuclear plants, Millstone 2 and Millstone 3 in Waterford and two decommissioned nuclear plants, Millstone 1 in Waterford and Connecticut Yankee in Haddam. The spent fuel from those plants remains on site awaiting a permanent federal storage facility.

In preparing an environmental impact statement, the commission said its staff could draw on previous work as well as environmental assessments, studies and reports done by other agencies to address the impacts of transportation and consolidated storage of spent fuel. In addition, the commission ordered staff to “provide ample opportunity for public comment” on the proposed EIS and rule.