NRC DIRECTS STAFF TO CONDUCT TWO-YEAR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY AND 

REVISION TO WASTE CONFIDENCE RULE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today directed the agency’s staff to develop an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) and a revised waste confidence decision and rule on the 

temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel. The EIS and rule, which are in response to a June 8 

ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, are to be completed 

within 24 months.

In a Staff Requirements Memorandum, the Commission directed the staff to “proceed 

directly” with development of the EIS and a revised waste confidence rule to satisfy the 

deficiencies the Appeals Court found in the NRC’s 2010 waste confidence revision. The 

Commission said the staff should draw on the agency’s “long, rich history” with waste 

confidence determinations as well as work performed by other agencies, such as environmental 

assessments, technical studies and reports addressing the impacts of transportation and 

consolidated storage of spent fuel. 

The Appeals Court ruled that NRC should have considered the potential environmental 

effects in the event a permanent repository for disposing of spent fuel is never built, and found 

other deficiencies with the agency’s consideration of leaks and fires involving spent fuel pools.

“Resolving this issue successfully is a Commission priority,” said NRC Chairman Allison 

M. Macfarlane. “Waste confidence plays a core role in many major licensing actions, such as 

new reactors and license renewals. I applaud my fellow Commissioners for their swift action in 

setting a path forward to resolve the Court’s remand, and we have confidence in the staff’s 

ability to meet this demanding deadline.”

“Waste confidence” is a generic finding that spent nuclear fuel can be safely stored for 

decades beyond the licensed operating life of a reactor without significant environmental effects. 

It enables the NRC to license reactors or renew their licenses without examining the effects of 

extended waste storage for each individual site pending ultimate disposal.

On Aug. 7, the Commission issued an Order that NRC will not issue licenses dependent 

on the waste confidence rule – such as new reactors and renewal of existing reactor operating 

licenses – until the Court’s remand is appropriately addressed. That Order remains in effect.

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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No. 12-098 September 6, 2012
The Commission directed the staff to “provide ample opportunity for public comment” 

on the EIS and rule, even while looking for ways to make the EIS and rulemaking process more 

efficient. It said the staff should form an inter-office team of the agency’s most-accomplished 

environmental experts to develop the EIS and resolve comments “with the urgency that this 

matter deserves.”

The NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, which has regulatory 

responsibility over spent fuel storage and disposal, has established a Waste Confidence 

Directorate to develop the waste confidence EIS. The new directorate will be headed by 

Dr. Keith I. McConnell, currently deputy director of the Division of Waste Management and 

Environmental Protection in the Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 

Management Programs.

The Commission’s SRM, a staff paper outlining options to address the Court’s ruling

(COMSECY-12-0016), and the Commissioners’ vote sheets with comments, are available on the 

NRC website. 

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