NRC: News Release - Region I - 2002-069 - NRC, Dominion to Discuss Spent Fuel Storage Plans for Millstone Plants


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NRC NEWS
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406
www.nrc.gov

No. I-02-069		December 5, 2002
CONTACT:	Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331	E-mail: OPA1.Resource@nrc.gov
NRC, DOMINION TO DISCUSS SPENT FUEL STORAGE PLANS FOR MILLSTONE PLANTS Printable Version
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., on Thursday, December 12, to discuss the company’s plans to use dry cask storage for spent fuel at the company’s Millstone 2 and 3 nuclear power plants. The Millstone units, along with the permanently shutdown Millstone 1 reactor, are located in Waterford, Conn. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Region I office, 475 Allendale Road in King of Prussia, Pa. The public is invited to observe and will have one or more opportunities to offer comments and/or ask questions of the NRC staff before the session is adjourned. At present, U.S. nuclear power plants have two options for the storage of spent nuclear fuel, that is, fuel that has already been used in a reactor. A plant can either store fuel rods in a circulating-water spent fuel pool or in a “dry” cask storage facility. Under the latter option, fuel is removed from the pool after a sufficient period of time has elapsed and placed inside stainless-steel casks. Those casks are then sealed, filled with an inert gas and transported to an outdoor concrete pad, where they are placed inside specially designed vaults made of steel-reinforced concrete. Convective air flow through vents at the top and bottom of the vaults helps ensure that the fuel remains properly cooled. Dry cask storage facilities are currently in use at nearly two dozen plant sites across the U.S.
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