Biden Administration Supports DOE’s High-Level Waste Interpretation
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) signed a Federal Register Notice (FRN) this week signaling that the Biden Administration affirms its interpretation of the statutory term “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW). The HLW Interpretation (HLWI) provides that not all wastes resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel are HLW and therefore, some of that waste can be safely disposed of based on its radiological characteristics
DOE confirms that the HLWI is consistent with the law, the best available science and data, and the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. DOE further notes that the views of the public and the scientific community were considered in the decision-making, specifically citing the Energy Community Alliance’s (ECA) report “Waste Disposition: A New Approach to DOE’s Waste Management Must Be Pursued.”
ECA has long advocated for a full evaluation of the HLWI as a safe, risk-based alternative in line with international and scientific practices and guidelines for the management and disposal of radioactive waste.
Moving ahead to base disposal decisions on actual radiological characteristics rather than origin has the potential to:
Reduce time that radioactive waste is stored on-site at DOE facilities, increasing safety for workers, our communities and the environment;
Shorten mission completion schedules and reduce taxpayer financial liability;
Allow for the removal of some radioactive waste to disposal facilities licensed, constructed and regulated for this purpose; and
By reducing costs and expediting cleanup activities, allow DOE to more quickly focus on other high-priority cleanup projects, ultimately reducing risks across the complex.
DOE’s announcement comes on the heels of a new GAO study recommending that Congress consider clarifying DOE’s authority to manage and dispose of waste as other than HLW, noting an alternative treatment plan to apply the HLWI at Hanford could save billions of dollars. ECA supports the findings of this study.
While affirmation of the HLWI is a critical step in the right direction, it remains to be seen how and when the definition will be applied. As DOE has noted throughout its evaluation of the HLWI, “DOE will continue to evaluate its waste inventories and related management and disposal options, and expects to engage openly with stakeholders regarding potential future opportunities to implement the HLWI more broadly. Any decisions…about whether and how the interpretation will apply to other wastes at any specific site…will be the subject of subsequent actions.”
For now, DOE is continuing to move ahead with the HLWI at the Savannah River Site (SRS). A second FRN published this week announced the release of the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Commercial Disposal of SRS Contaminated Process Equipment and a 45-day public comment period on further application of the HLWI for the disposal of contaminated process equipment at SRS.
An informational webinar on the new Draft EA will be held on January 11, 2022, at 2 pm ET. Access to the webinar can be found here: Informational Webinar Access.
The two Federal Register Notices, the new Draft EA, and other information related to the HLWI can be viewed here: https://www.energy.gov/em/program-scope/high-level-radioactive-waste-hlw-interpretation.