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Currently, every nuclear
reactor site in the United
States stores spent nuclear
fuel in pools of water.
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Currently, spent
nuclear fuel and high-level
radioactive waste are stored
in temporary facilities at some
125 sites in 39 states. These storage
sites are located in a mixture
of cities, suburbs, and rural areas.
Most are located near large bodies
of water.
In the United States today, more
than 161 million people reside within
75 miles of temporarily stored nuclear
waste.
View
waste locations by state
After three to four years in a reactor, spent
nuclear fuel is moved to a
storage pool of water at the reactor
site. At this point, the spent
fuel is not only highly radioactive,
but also extremely hot in temperature.
Besides helping to cool the fuel,
the water protects workers and
the public from radiation.
Currently, spent fuel is stored
in pools at every nuclear reactor
site in the United States. By 2017,
the best-achievable opening date
for a repository, more than 70
nuclear power plants will have no
room left in their spent fuel pools.
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Some sites supplement their
fuel storage capacity with
aboveground dry storage facilities
that are made of lead,
steel, and concrete.
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Since 1986, more than a dozen U.S.
nuclear power plants have supplemented
their storage capacity by building
aboveground, dry storage facilities
at their plant sites. These facilities
put the spent
nuclear fuel in heavy containers
made of steel, concrete, and lead;
which together effectively shield
radiation. They place the containers either
upright on thick concrete pads or
store them horizontally in concrete
bunkers.
Many state and local officials are
concerned that unless a permanent
repository becomes available, the
on-site dry storage facilities will
become de facto repositories themselves.
Last reviewed: 04/08
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