Spent fuel storage requirements

Long before a permanent nuclear waste disposal system is available in the United States, several of the operating commercial nuclear power plants will exhaust their existing spent fuel storage capabilities. Studies to define the magnitude of this interim problem were conducted by the Department of Energy through the Commercial Spent Fuel Management (CSFM) Program at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory. Based on information supplied by the nuclear utilities, these studies indicate that if new storage concepts are not available by 1986 some reactors could encroach on their storage pool's full core reserve (FCR), and ultimately, be forced to shutdown. 3 refs., 2 figs., 5 tabs.