SAFEGUARDS OF INDEPENDENT SPENT FUEL STORAGE INSTALLATIONS

The use of dry storage of spent reactor fuel rods to solve the problem of too few long-term storage facilities for spent fuel, is increasingly becoming a viable option for the nuclear industry. Because of the lack of consolidated long-term storage facilities, some utilities have chosen to design and build their own Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs). Although the stored material is generally highly irradiated, it also contains sufficient special nuclear material and fission products so that it could be a target for theft or radiological sabotage. To date, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received only a few license applications for ISFSIs, and those were handled on a case-by-case basis. The NRC presently has a rulemaking effort underway to address, generically, the safety and safeguards require- ments for future applications for dry storage of spent reactor fuel rods. In the meanwhile, the staff is prepared to continue the review and approval of ISFSIs on a case by case basis. This paper discusses the safeguards considerations and the interim licensing review criteria for the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facilities.