The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate the environmental impact of nuclear waste stored at Haddam and Waterford in its study of temporary spent uranium storage around the nation, authorities say.
The U.S. Department of Energy was supposed to take nuclear waste from reactors to a permanent storage facility starting in 1998, but that facility was never constructed, mostly for political reasons.
As a result, nuclear power plants such as the active Millstone Power Station in Waterford and the decommissioned Connecticut Yankee in Haddam must temporarily store their spent uranium onsite in cooling pools and dry casks.
In response to a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on June 8, the NRC has direct its staff to develop environmental impact statements on the temporary storage at places such as Haddam and Waterford.
The two sites in Connecticut store more than 1,800 metric tons of nuclear waste.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has pushed the Energy Department to remove the waste from the Connecticut sites. On Friday, he applauded the NRC’s decision.
“This action affirms the position Connecticut and other states have taken for years – that the environmental impact needs to be assessed before any decision is made to allow longer storage of spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites,” Jepsen said in a statement.
