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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Senator Proposes Storing Spent Fuel At Hanford Radioactive Waste From Civilian Reactors Would Be Kept In Temporary Storage

H. Josef Hebert Associated Press

The chairman of a key Senate committee proposed Friday temporarily storing thousands of tons of highly radioactive spent fuel now kept at civilian reactors at federal sites in Washington state and South Carolina.

Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the Energy Department’s Savannah River facility near Aiken, S.C., and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation would be “excellent sites” for interim nuclear waste storage, pending development of a permanent underground repository.

Murkowski is chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that later this year will draft legislation for dealing with an estimated 28,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel that now is stored at 109 civilian reactors in 34 states. The waste will remain highly radioactive for thousands of years.

The nuclear power industry has been pressing the Energy Department to accept the spent fuel because of dwindling storage space at the reactor sites.

Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to require the Energy Department to develop an interim storage site in Nevada where it is considering a permanent underground repository. Nevada officials have vowed to fight both interim or permanent storage of the wastes in their state.

In a lengthy statement, Murkowski did not address the Nevada option for temporary storage, instead focusing on the Hanford and Savannah River facilities. Both are former nuclear weapons production sites and face massive radioactive waste cleanup.

David Fish, a spokesman for Murkowski, declined to say whether the senator has ruled out a Nevada site for interim storage until a permanent location is found. “The statement speaks for itself,” said Fish.

Murkowski, whose committee must craft nuclear waste disposal legislation later this year, said he continues to favor pursuing Yucca Mountain in Nevada for permanent underground disposal.

“Our long term goal remains geological disposal,” said Murkowski.

Unless Congress changes the law, the Energy Department is prohibited from accepting civilian nuclear wastes until a permanent underground storage site is selected and approved.

Singling out Hanford and Savannah River, Murkowski said he plans to call for creation of one or possibly two interim above-ground, dry-cask storage facilities for the spent fuel, while continuing the program to determine whether the Yucca Mountain repository is suitable.

“Hanford and Savannah River already have defense nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel from defense and research activities that is destined for the permanent geological repository,” said Murkowski. He said both installations already have workers trained in dealing with nuclear material.