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NRC TO DISCUSS PLANS FOR SPENT FUEL STORAGE AT FITZPATRICK PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with the public in Oswego, N.Y., on Wednesday, December 13, to discuss its oversight of an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) planned for the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant. Located in Oswego, the plant is operated by Entergy Corp. The meeting is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. at Oswego State University. It will take place in the lower-lobby auditorium of Sheldon Hall, on Washington Boulevard. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., requested the meeting so that area residents could receive information about plans for the storage facility. NRC staff will make a presentation on the topic, followed by an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions. Among the points of discussion by NRC staff will be the licensing review for the storage casks that would be used at FitzPatrick; the use of "dry" cask storage throughout the country; and the NRC's oversight program for such facilities. At present, all of the plant's spent nuclear fuel is kept in a circulating-water pool located indoors near the reactor. However, with the amount of available space in that pool decreasing, plant managers are moving forward with plans for an ISFSI at the site. Also known as a "dry" spent fuel storage facility, it would utilize sealed, stainless-steel canisters to hold spent fuel. (Spent fuel is allowed to cool for a minimum of five years before being placed in a canister.) Those specially designed canisters, in turn, would be placed inside large, vertical concrete casks situated on a concrete pad. Vents at the bottom and top of the casks would allow for convective air flow that would keep the fuel cool. The utility's current plans tentatively call for the first loading of spent fuel into the specially designed casks to occur at FitzPatrick in the summer of 2001. More information about "dry" spent fuel storage is available on the NRC's web site at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/gmo/tip/tip15.htm ### |
