Session: 04-02 Geologic Repository & Performance

Paper Number: 111052

111052 - Overview of United States Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, Transportation, and Disposal R&d 

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) is working to develop solutions for spent nuclear fuel management, including storage, transportation, and disposal. The spent fuel pools in the U.S. have reached their capacity limits and utilities have implemented dry storage at over 70 power plant sites. Some of those nuclear facilities have completely shut down reactor operations, but still have fuel in dry storage secured at independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSI) on the shut-down sites. Currently 39 states are storing spent nuclear fuel or reprocessing high-level waste. By 2075, it is projected that there will be ~140,000 metric tons of heavy metal in dry storage contained in ~10,000 dual-purpose (storage and transportation) canisters. DOE is using a consent-based process to site one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities to help reduce the number of locations in the U.S. where spent nuclear fuel is stored.

Sandia National Laboratories has been assisting the U.S. DOE in nuclear waste management for over 45 years. Current areas of focus are in

• testing and analysis of dual-purpose canisters for storage lifetime,

• evaluating the feasibility of direct disposal of dual-purpose canisters,

• understanding flow and transport behavior of potential disposal host rocks, specifically crystalline, argillite, and salt

• understanding engineered barrier systems capabilities and evolution

• developing a geologic disposal safety assessment framework that includes the multi-physics simulation/integration tool PFLOTRAN

In addition, to offset attrition of nuclear waste management expert knowledge (both a U.S. and worldwide issue), we have developed a knowledge management program using a phased approach focused on capturing subject matter expert tacit knowledge and making it available in multiple, integrated formats for usage by staff seeking to develop their understanding/expertise.

Lastly, there are extensive activities, utilizing the expertise from multiple national laboratories, to understand and develop a high-level strategy and detailed approaches to determine priorities for further R&D to evaluate storage, transportation, and disposal of potential spent nuclear fuel from advanced reactor designs.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Presenting Author: Sylvia Saltzstein Sandia National Laboratories

Presenting Author Biography: Sylvia Saltzstein has worked at Sandia National Labs (SNL) for over 25 years where she has contributed in the areas of environmental health and safety, hazard communication, chemical and radiological facilities infrastructure, microelectronics development, weapon design and production, and in the safe and secure storage, transportation, and disposal of used nuclear fuel.

She is currently the senior manager of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle at Sandia National Laboratories, where her primary customer is the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE:NE). Current areas of R&D involve repository science, supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle energy conversion, fuel cycle safeguards and security, and the storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel. Sylvia managed the national lab portion of the ~$23M/year Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology Storage and Transportation Research and Development Portfolio. Her program’s focus is to help develop the scientifically informed technical basis for understanding potential issues with the structural and material integrity of spent fuel, its containment, security, and safeguards during long term storage and subsequent transportation. She has presented work related to the storage and transportation of used nuclear fuel at the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Electric Power Research Institute, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and numerous conferences.

Sylvia led teams that won the DOE Secretary of Achievement awards in 2017 for a large-scale spent nuclear fuel transportation test and again in 2018 for spent nuclear fuel mechanical testing. She was named an Albuquerque Woman of Influence by Albuquerque Business First in 2019, and a DOE Woman in Energy in 2020. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and Masters from the University of California at Berkeley and was a Certified Industrial Hygienist for over 20 years.

Sylvia lives in Albuquerque with her husband and three girls where she enjoys mountain biking, skiing, running, gardening, and traveling with her family.