PP&L, Inc. began Monday (2/1) to put in place the first component of a dry-storage system for storing its used fuel at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick.
"Arrival of the horizontal storage modules by rail today brings the spent fuel storage project, which began in 1994, a step closer to completion," said Herb Woodeshick, PP&L, Inc.'s special assistant to the president for Susquehanna. "We expect to begin to move fuel from the spent fuel storage pools in the plant's reactor building into the new storage facility this summer."
Woodeshick emphasized that PP&L, Inc. has been educating plant neighbors and community leaders about the plans for dry storage since 1994 and will continue to keep the public informed as the process advances.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved and licensed the design of the dry-cask storage system being used by companies in nine other states besides Pennsylvania. PP&L, Inc. will use this storage system to hold used fuel at Susquehanna until the federal government opens a central storage facility.
PP&L, Inc. selected the dry-storage technology to provide additional, temporary storage for the used -- or spent -- nuclear fuel from the plant. Since the beginning of plant operation, all of the used fuel has been stored in specially designed water-filled tanks next to each reactor. Available space in those pools will be used up by next year.
"Before plant operation began, PP&L, Inc. signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy for that agency to begin accepting Susquehanna's used fuel in 1998 for disposal -- as did other nuclear facilities around the country," Woodeshick said. "However, DOE is unable to meet its contractual obligation to take the used fuel because it does not have a disposal facility ready."
DOE projects that it will not be able to take the used fuel from this country's nuclear plants until 2010 at the earliest, Woodeshick added. The site selected for the facility -- Yucca Mountain in Nevada -- is still undergoing testing.
Only used fuel from the Susquehanna plant will be placed in the new dry-storage facility, Woodeshick said.
The dry-storage facility, which will be located inside the plant's security fence, will use natural air circulation to remove heat produced by the used fuel. The fuel will be isolated inside airtight, sealed stainless-steel containers, which are placed in sturdy concrete modules made of 3-foot-thick reinforced concrete. Woodeshick said there will be no increase in radiation at the site boundary of the Susquehanna plant because of the dry-storage facility.
The first four concrete storage modules arrived Monday by rail. The rest will be arriving later this winter. After they are received at the plant, the modules will be assembled and placed on the concrete pad. The stainless-steel casks are expected to arrive this spring. Following their arrival, the team that will move the fuel from the reactor building will receive final training in the procedures for the move.
"Dry-cask storage is a safe and proven technology that has been in use for several years at other nuclear plants," Woodeshick said, noting that the experience at other facilities was incorporated into the design at Susquehanna. Dry cask also has been employed successfully in Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Arkansas.
The Susquehanna plant, located in Luzerne County about five miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PP&L and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc.