DOE/EM-0654, Rev. 1 October 2005 United States of America Second National Report for the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management United States Department of Energy In Cooperation with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission United States Environmental Protection Agency United States Department of State ABSTRACT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The United States of America ratified the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention) on April 9, 2003. The Joint Convention establishes an international peer review process among Contracting Parties and provides incentives for nations to take appropriate steps to bring their nuclear activities into compliance with general safety standards and practices. The first U.S. National Report was presented at the first Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties under the Joint Convention in November 2003 in Vienna, Austria. This second U.S. National Report updates the first report, which documented spent fuel and radioactive waste management safety in the United States under the terms of the Joint Convention. It also incorporates additional information and responses to questions raised at the November 2003 meeting of the Contracting parties. This report does not reflect developments in the U.S. status after August 17, 2005, e.g., subsequent to the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and publication of proposed revisions to certain radiation standards for Yucca Mountain. The U.S. is in compliance with the terms of the Joint Convention. An extensive U.S. legal and regulatory structure ensures the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management. The report describes radioactive waste management in the U.S. in both commercial and government sectors, providing annexes with information on spent fuel and waste management facilities, inventories, and ongoing decommissioning projects. Detailed information is provided on spent fuel and radioactive waste management safety, as well as imports/exports (transboundary movements) and disused sealed sources, as required by the Joint Convention. The U.S. Department of Energy acknowledges the support and cooperation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and U.S. Department of State in preparation of this report through the Joint Convention Interagency Executive Steering Committee and Working Group. The information in this report was extracted from publicly available information sources, including regulations and internet web sites of these agencies. Additional information is available on the internet web sites listed in Section A. iii U.S. Second National Report-Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management Copies of this report are available from: United States Department of Energy Center for Environmental Management Information Office of Environmental Management 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20585 Mr. Douglas Tonkay United States Department of Energy Mailstop EM-23/Cloverleaf Building 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20585 Email: [email protected] iv U.S. Second National Report-Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management Contents A.1 Purpose and Structure of this Report................................................................................1 A.2 Summary Results from the Previous Review....................................................................4 B.1 U.S. National Policy on Nuclear Activities.........................................................................6 B.2 Government and Commercial Entities ..............................................................................7 B.2.1 Government Sector .....................................................................................................7 B.2.2 Commercial Sector......................................................................................................8 B.2.3 Classification of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste...................................................8 B.2.3.1 Spent Fuel..............................................................................................................8 B.2.3.2 Radioactive Waste.................................................................................................9 B.2.3.3 Materials Considered Radioactive Waste............................................................10 B.3 Spent Fuel Management Practices .................................................................................10 B.3.1 Spent Fuel Storage ...................................................................................................12 B.3.2 Spent Fuel Disposal ..................................................................................................13 B.3.3 Waste Confidence Determination..............................................................................13 B.3.4 Reprocessing in the United States ............................................................................13 B.4 Radioactive Waste Management Practices ....................................................................14 B.4.1 Low-Level Waste.......................................................................................................14 B.4.2 Transuranic Waste ....................................................................................................14 B.4.3 High-Level Waste......................................................................................................15 B.4.4 Uranium Recovery.....................................................................................................15 B.4.5 Waste from Enrichment and Fuel Fabrication Facilities ............................................16 B.4.6 Ocean Disposal.........................................................................................................17 B.4.6.1 EPA Actions Relating to Ocean Disposal of LLW................................................17 B.4.6.2 Status of Ocean Disposal ....................................................................................17 B.5 Decommissioning............................................................................................................18 C.1 Application to Reprocessing of Spent Fuel .....................................................................19 C.2 Application to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials................................................19 C.3 Application to Defense Activities .....................................................................................19 C.4 Application to Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Facilities .....................20 D.1 Spent Fuel Management.................................................................................................21 D.1.1 Spent Fuel Storage ...................................................................................................21 D.1.2 Spent Fuel Disposal ..................................................................................................24 D.2 Radioactive Waste Management ....................................................................................25 D.2.1 Radioactive Waste Storage and Treatment ..............................................................25 D.2.1.1 HLW Storage and Treatment ..............................................................................26 D.2.1.2 Greater-Than-Class-C Low-Level Waste Storage and Treatment ......................28 D.2.1.3 LLW Storage and Treatment ...............................................................................28 D.2.2 Radioactive Waste Disposal......................................................................................28 D.2.2.1 Transuranic Waste Disposal ................................................................................29 D.2.2.2 Low-Level Waste (Near-Surface) Disposal .........................................................30 D.2.2.3 Uranium Mill Tailings Disposal ............................................................................32 D.2.2.3.1 UMTRCA Title I Mill Tailings Sites .................................................................33 D.2.2.3.2 UMTRCA Title II Licensed Uranium Recovery Facilities/Mill Tailings Sites ....33 D.2.2.4 Mine Overburden Remediation ...........................................................................34 D.3 Nuclear Facility Decommissioning ..................................................................................35 D.3.1 DOE Sites with Decommissioning/Remediation Projects..........................................35 D.3.2 Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program ....................................................36 D.3.3 Complex Licensed Materials Sites Decommissioning (NRC)....................................36 D.3.4 Power and Non-Power Reactor Decommissioning ...................................................37 D.3.5 Other Non-Power Facility Decommissioning.............................................................37 E.1 Legislative System ..........................................................................................................39 v U.S. Second National Report-Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management E.2 Regulatory System..........................................................................................................42