{"id":2437,"date":"2013-12-19T15:57:13","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T20:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?p=2437"},"modified":"2013-12-19T16:05:26","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T21:05:26","slug":"nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuclear Regulatory Commission Downplays Risk of Sea Level Rise in Waste Storage EIS"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Ethan I. Strell, Esq.
\nAssociate Director & Fellow<\/i><\/p>\n

The Columbia Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) submitted comments <\/a>today on the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission\u2019s \u201cWaste Confidence Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement\u201d (DGEIS)<\/a>, which concerns the storage of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel at individual power plants beyond the duration of each plant\u2019s operating license.\u00a0 CCCL\u2019s comments focus on the DGEIS\u2019s lack of analysis of how future climate conditions could affect the safety of these high level nuclear waste storage facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaste Confidence\u201d refers to the Commission\u2019s confidence that permanent disposal of nuclear waste can be accomplished when it is needed.\u00a0 Currently, spent nuclear fuel is stored on-site at nuclear reactors beyond the duration of plants\u2019 operating licenses.\u00a0 The Waste Confidence Rule stems from a 1976 petition by NRDC to halt the licensing of nuclear plants until the Commission could guarantee the permanent, safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel.\u00a0 In denying NRDC\u2019s petition, the Commission stated that \u201cit is neither necessary nor reasonable for the Commission to insist on proof that a means of permanent waste disposal is on hand at the time reactor operation begins, so long as the Commission can be reasonably confident that permanent disposal (as distinguished from continued storage under surveillance) can be accomplished safely when it is likely to become necessary.\u201d\u00a0 42 Fed. Reg. 128, 34391, July 5, 1977.<\/p>\n

Although Congress had directed the Department of Energy in 1982 to create a deep geologic repository for high level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the Obama administration was opposed to Yucca Mountain and the Department of Energy withdrew its license application in 2010.\u00a0 Because no waste repository exists, highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel is stored on site at nuclear power plants across the country.\u00a0 In the absence of a permanent repository, waste will be stored on-site indefinitely, and this high level waste will remain dangerous for thousands of years.<\/p>\n

As part of the authorization process for on-site waste storage, the Commission periodically updates its Waste Confidence Rule.\u00a0 In June of 2012, the DC Circuit appellate court invalidated the Commission\u2019s 2010 Waste Confidence Decision Update, and directed that the Commission comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by completing an environmental impact statement or a finding of no significant impact.\u00a0 New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission<\/i><\/a>, 681 F.3d 471 (D.C. Cir. 2012).<\/p>\n

CCCL commented on two aspects of the DGEIS\u2019s analysis of the effects of future climate change on the storage of spent nuclear fuel: (1) the NRC\u2019s limitation of its analysis to only the \u201cshort-term timeframe\u201d of 60 years, and (2) the sea level rise projections used in the DGEIS.<\/p>\n

CCCL argued that limiting the analysis to just the short-term timeframe does not satisfy NEPA because spent nuclear fuel remains dangerously radioactive well beyond 60 years and the prospects of a completed and operational permanent waste repository for spent nuclear fuel within 60 years are speculative.<\/p>\n

CCCL also argued that the discussion of sea level rise was insufficient.\u00a0 The DGEIS relied on dated sources that did not account for uncertainty in sea level rise projections and may underestimate risk.\u00a0 Also, the DGEIS merely looks at static sea level rise, which ignores risks due to more frequent and severe flooding.\u00a0 CCCL pointed to data showing that a number of coastal nuclear power plants potentially subject to sea level rise and storm surge, are located in highly populated areas of the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethan I. Strell, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow The Columbia Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) submitted comments today on the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission\u2019s \u201cWaste Confidence Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement\u201d (DGEIS), which concerns the storage of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel at individual power plants beyond the duration of each plant\u2019s operating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":953,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"czr-hentry"},"yoast_head":"\nNuclear Regulatory Commission Downplays Risk of Sea Level Rise in Waste Storage EIS - Climate Law Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nuclear Regulatory Commission Downplays Risk of Sea Level Rise in Waste Storage EIS - Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ethan I. Strell, Esq. Associate Director & Fellow The Columbia Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) submitted comments today on the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission\u2019s \u201cWaste Confidence Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement\u201d (DGEIS), which concerns the storage of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel at individual power plants beyond the duration of each plant\u2019s operating […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-19T20:57:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-19T21:05:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ethan Strell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ethan Strell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ethan Strell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/123b22fe82cb517e78ee388c23a978b0\"},\"headline\":\"Nuclear Regulatory Commission Downplays Risk of Sea Level Rise in Waste Storage EIS\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-19T20:57:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-12-19T21:05:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/\"},\"wordCount\":574,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/12\/19\/nuclear-regulatory-commission-downplays-risk-of-sea-level-rise-in-waste-storage-eis\/\",\"name\":\"Nuclear Regulatory Commission Downplays Risk of Sea Level Rise in Waste Storage EIS - 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