A Separate Defense Waste Repository
On March 24, 2015, President Obama authorized the Department to develop a separate repository for high-level radioactive waste resulting from atomic energy defense activities. The Department is currently evaluating this option. Establishing a separate repository for defense high-level radioactive waste would:
- make progress toward meeting Federal government commitments and cleanup from the Cold War legacy
- support national security objectives
- benefit from simpler design and implementation, leading to a faster and less expensive facility
- isolate the waste materials safely and permanently
- inform the design, siting, licensing, and successful development of a repository for commercial spent nuclear fuel through lessons learned
Draft Plan for a Defense Waste Repository
Since the President’s authorization in 2015, the Department has begun early planning to evaluate the possibility of a separate repository for defense waste. The Department released a Draft Plan for a Defense Waste Repository for public comment on December 16, 2016.
Although the plan is preliminary, it begins to describe the different components—including technical, regulatory, risk management, cost, and schedule considerations—that need to come together to build a viable program, all within the framework of a consent-based siting process. Ultimately, the defense waste repository plan would provide meaningful information to any community interested in learning more about what it would take to host such a facility.
If you would like to provide feedback or comments on the draft plan, please email DWR@hq.doe.gov. The comment period will remain open until March 20, 2017. You may also view the Request for Public Comment in the Federal Register.
Defense Waste Materials
A separate defense repository would include some or all of the high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel derived from atomic energy defense activities, as well as the Department’s research and development activities. These materials include:
- Defense high-level waste in vitrified glass
- Calcined tank waste
- DOE-managed spent nuclear fuel from research and production activities
The Department views the development of a defense waste repository as part of a larger strategy for the storage and ultimate permanent disposal of all of the nation’s high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
