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Report on Waste Burial Charges (NUREG-1307, Rev. 13)

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NUREG-1307, Rev. 13 (PDF - 1.32 MB)

Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: November 2008
Date Published: November 2008

Division of Policy and Rulemaking
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

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Abstract

A requirement placed upon nuclear power reactor licensees by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is that licensees must annually adjust the estimate of the cost of decommissioning their plants, in dollars of the current year, as part of the process to provide reasonable assurance that adequate funds for decommissioning will be available when needed. This report, which is revised periodically, explains the formula that is acceptable to the NRC for determining the minimum decommissioning fund requirements for nuclear power plants. The sources of information used in the formula are identified, and the values developed for the estimation of radioactive waste burial/disposition costs, by site and by year, are given. Licensees may use the formula, coefficients, and burial/disposition adjustment factors from this report in their cost analyses, or they may use adjustment factors derived from any methodology that results in a total cost estimate of no less than the amount estimated by using the parameters presented in this report.

This report includes an alternative low-level waste (LLW) disposition option other than direct disposal at the two remaining full-service (Class A, B, and C) LLW disposal sites. This option, which is accepted as a valid approach for consideration by licensees, allows contracting with waste vendors to provide for the disposition of certain LLW generated during decommissioning.

This thirteenth revision of NUREG-1307 contains updated disposal costs for the reference pressurized water reactor (PWR) and the reference boiling water reactor (BWR) and the ratios of disposal costs at the two remaining full-service disposal sites in Washington and South Carolina for the year 2008. In addition, disposal costs for the reference reactors and ratios of disposal costs at the Washington and South Carolina sites for the years 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 are provided for historical purposes. This report also provides costs for dispositioning a portion of the total LLW volume using waste vendors, including the ratios of these costs relative to the original 1986 disposal cost estimates. Several sample calculations for estimating the burial/disposition cost for both the old and new options are presented, demonstrating the use of the data contained in this report.

Estimated disposal costs for 2008 at the Washington disposal site, which only accepts LLW from members of the Northwest and Rocky Mountain Compacts, are about 21% higher for the reference PWR and about 98% higher for the reference BWR over corresponding estimates for 2006. The reason for this disparity in disposal costs between reactor types is that the BWR has a considerably larger inventory of high dose rate material than the PWR. Thus, for the BWR, the dose rate charges in 2008, which nearly tripled from 2006, had a disproportionately large impact. Disposition of LLW using waste vendors provides a savings of about 38% for a PWR and about 10% for a BWR. The BWR realizes minimal savings from using waste vendors because of the assumption that vendors do not appreciably reduce the volume of costly high dose rate material requiring disposal as LLW.

Beginning 1 July 2008, only members of the Atlantic Compact are permitted to dispose of waste at the South Carolina disposal site. Estimated disposal costs for Atlantic Compact users at the South Carolina site for 2008 are about 10% higher than the 2006 estimates, for both the PWR and BWR. Disposition of LLW using waste vendors provides a savings of about 61% for a PWR and 50% for a BWR.

Currently, NUREG-1307, Rev.13 assumes that LLW generated during plant operations is disposed of using operating funds. Plants that have no disposal site available for LLW are now forced to provide interim storage for this waste (although most Class A waste can be disposed of at the Utah disposal site). If additional disposal sites do not become available prior to permanent plant shutdown, this waste will ultimately need to be disposed of during decommissioning. This volume can become significant for plants operating through extended license terms, and the disposal cost would not be accounted for in a decommissioning trust fund that is based on the formula calculation. In addition, for plants that have no disposal site available for LLW (e.g., plants not located within the Atlantic and Northwest Compacts), NUREG-1307, Rev.13 assumes the cost for disposal is the same as that provided for the Atlantic Compact, for lack of a better alternative at this time. However, when new disposal facilities become available, disposal rates will likely be significantly higher. Accordingly, given these considerations, licensees may want to set aside additional decommissioning trust funds in order to avoid significant future shortfalls in funding and potential enforcement actions.