Stop the presses! The U.S. Department of Energy has a timeline to “operation readiness” for a new site to hold America’s nuclear waste:
Fifteen years.
Yes, by 2038 (more or less), millions of pounds of spent fuel from San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and other commercial reactors could be preparing to leave their steel-and-concrete tombs and relocate to a new, albeit temporary, federal home or homes.
Where, exactly? There’s the rub. The feds plan to figure that out over the next decade-and-a-half.
At its “Consent-based Siting Consortia Kickoff” on Tuesday, July 25, the DOE spelled out three distinct phases for its renewed effort to enlist communities ready, willing and able to host the nation’s nuclear waste, at least temporarily.
Staging
We’re in Stage 1 right now: “Planning and Capacity Building.” This involves earning the trust of local communities, encouraging “mutual learning” and understanding of nuclear waste management. That’s expected to take another 2-3 years, and the DOE won’t entertain volunteer hosts just yet.
Stage 2 is slated to take another 4-7 years. This is the “Site Screening and Assessment” stage, where the DOE will look at potential sites and, yes, assess them, hopefully hand-in-hand with those communities.
The last stage is “Negotiation and Implementation,” where agreements are struck with “willing and informed host communities, with licensing, construction and operation activities to follow.” That’s estimated to take another 4-5 years.
Of course we’ve all learned that such timelines can be purely aspirational — DOE was supposed to start accepting the nation’s commercial nuclear waste for permanent disposal in, um, 1998 — but again, after decades of paralysis, this is at least some progress.
How quickly things move will likely boil down to how important Congress feels this quest is, and how much money it dedicates to the task.
‘Realistic’
“My general impression is that this timetable is realistic, but probably could be accelerated a little bit if DOE could provide sustained support that is credible,” said David Victor, professor at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, and chair of the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel.
“That remains to be seen because congressional funding for these kinds of activities has historically been uneven — although the Southern California delegation has been key to keeping support in recent years. The experience in other countries is that building consent takes quite a while. It’s a reminder that we need to have strategies taking shape for interim storage, so that spent fuel has a place to go, in addition to long-term permanent storage. Both are essential. The long-term will take a lot longer and be more challenging which is why the near term is so important.”
In June, the DOE awarded $26 million to the Consortia — 13 nonprofit and university teams, including several from California — tasked with getting this consent-based siting ball rolling. Each is getting about $2 million to “help DOE learn from and involve communities across the country in the consent-based siting process, answer questions and concerns, and develop an understanding so that we are good neighbors even before moving in.”
It’s good news to Southern California Edison, which manages San Onofre’s tear-down and is stuck babysitting the waste while the federal government figures things out.
“We’re encouraged by the DOE’s three-stage roadmap that leads to federal consolidated interim storage in 10 to 15 years. It’s the most concrete plan we have seen in years,” said Manuel Camargo, principal manager for strategic planning, by email. “The plan requires help from Congress in order to authorize consent-based siting for one or more permanent deep geologic repositories. A repository program is vital to making more near-term, interim storage acceptable to potential host communities.
“We see consent as vitally important. Past efforts failed to place consent at the center of a repository program, and we must learn and adapt. SCE views consent-based siting for both interim and permanent spent fuel facilities as the most reliable and likely path to success.”
The $26 million invested in the Consortia will stimulate a national conversation, Camargo said, and over time, that will help ensure that potential host communities are truly informed and willing.
Green future
There was much discussion about equity and justice and what “consent” actually looks like. Everyone hopes to avoid another Yucca Mountain, but unanimity will likely be difficult to come by.
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