The U.S. Department of Energy is considering five states, including Idaho for nuclear campuses that could receive used nuclear fuel from around the country. The proposed facility would be located in eastern Idaho and could bring billions in investment and thousands of jobs, along with a role in managing America’s nuclear waste.
When asked by Idaho News 6 about the quantity of nuclear waste that would be stored, Leigh Ford Executive Director of Snake River Alliance, a nuclear watchdog group said, “We’re talking about 33 thousand tons … Worst case scenario … we have a whole bunch of nuclear waste forever and our kids are going to have to figure out what to do with it.”
To attract more interest, the DOE changed from requiring a host community for one of these centers, to framing them as economic incentives that may pull in investments and jobs. The state of Idaho reached a settlement in 1995 on limiting spent nuclear fuel from coming into the state known as the ‘Batt Agreement.’
In an interview from the Idaho Capital Sun, Lieutenant Governor Scott Bedke said, “Naturally the agreement has got to be modified to acknowledge what the world looks like in 2026, particularly with Idaho National Laboratory being one of the leaders in nuclear testing and innovation … This is a good opportunity for Idaho, but none of this will shortcut the safety of Idaho’s environment, including our aquifer.”
Steps to store nuclear include first keeping it underwater for 5 to 10 years to cool it down and block radiation, with permanent disposal of waste requiring the burial of waste inside stable rock formations, with engineers using further protections like copper canisters and clay, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Idaho Governor Brad Little told Idaho News 6 in an article that, “We are not going to put any spent fuel or whatever it is over the Idaho aquifer. They know that.” However, in the same article, Ford stated that, “I don’t know how it wouldn’t affect the aquifer.”
Governor Little clarified that no plan is set in stone despite Idaho’s status as a “finalist.”
“All we’ve signed so far is an agreement to talk,” Little told Idaho News 6.
Nuclear energy is referred to as clean energy because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases in its energy production, but The World Nuclear Association says that used nuclear fuel can remain radioactive and deadly for thousands of years.
Sam Walsh can be reached at [email protected]