NRC wants (nuclear) waste stored for (more than a) century

[jpak]

http://www.reformer.com/ci_17006314?source=most_viewed

BRATTLEBORO -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has written a revision of the Waste Confidence Decision which could allow spent fuel and high-level waste to be stored at nuclear facilities for more than 120 years.

"This analysis will go well beyond the current analysis that supports at least 60 years of post-licensed life storage with eventual disposal in a deep geologic repository," the commission explains in the recently published Federal Register notice.

The presidentially appointed, five-member commission that oversees the NRC, in 2008 decided to take a fresh look at the decision of how long and how much waste produced by nuclear power plants can be safely stored on-site past operation.

There is "reasonable assurance that sufficient mined geologic repository capacity will be available to dispose of the commercial high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel generated in any reactor when necessary," the commission stated.

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