Nuclear fuel consists of small uranium pellets which have a remarkable capacity to generate electricity. In fact, all of the fuel used by a 2,700 MW nuclear plant during its 40 year initial license period would fit into an approximately 40 foot cube. If the power generated by this plant was fossil-fueled instead, it would require almost 4 million railroad cars of coal or enough natural gas to fill 120,000 domed stadiums.

Because it produces so much energy and only a small amount of manageable spent fuel, nuclear power has great potential to support clean economic development. Today, spent nuclear fuel is safely stored at nuclear plant sites, either in steel-lined, water-filled, reinforced concrete vaults or in steel or steel-reinforced concrete containers with steel inner canisters. Diligent maintenance of safety systems ensures safe storage for as long as necessary.

While such storage was never intended to be permanent, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined that fuel could safely be stored on site. Additionally, nuclear generators have been paying into a fund for decades to finance spent fuel disposal by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Section 302(a) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 authorizes the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to enter into contracts that obligate DOE to accept title to and transport spent fuel from the nation’s nuclear facilities. The advance contracting requirements of Section 302(b) and NRC policy adopted in Generic Letter 83-07 require that, prior to issuance a combined license (or COL), the applicant must have entered into a contract with the DOE to take spent fuel from the proposed nuclear generation facility. On November 5, 2008, STPNOC signed an agreement with the DOE whereby the DOE became obligated to pick up, transport and manage all spent fuel produced by STP units 3&4.