where is the united states nuclear waste stored
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository
The purpose of the Yucca Mountain project is to comply with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and develop a national site for spent nuclear fuel and high - level radioactive waste storage . The management and operating contractor as of April 1 , 2009 for the project is USA Repository Services ( USA - RS ) , a wholly owned subsidiary of URS Corporation ( now part of AECOM ) with supporting principal subcontractors Shaw Corporation ( now part of McDermott International Inc . ) and Areva Federal Services LLC ( now Orano federal services business ) . After the layoff of 800 employees on March 31 , 2009 , about 100 employees remained on the project until all technical staff were laid off by the end of FY 2010 due to zero funding in the 2011 budget for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management . Sandia National Laboratories had the responsibility for post closure analysis and ensuring compliance with the NWPA . The main tunnel of the Exploratory Studies Facility is U-shaped , 5 mi ( 8.0 km ) long and 25 ft ( 7.6 m ) wide . There are also several cathedral - like alcoves that branch from the main tunnel . It is in these alcoves that most of the scientific experiments were conducted . The emplacement drifts ( smaller diameter tunnels branching off the main tunnel ) where waste would have been stored were not constructed since they required a construction authorization by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . The repository has a statutory limit of 77,000 metric tons ( 85,000 short tons ) . To store this amount of waste would have required 40 miles ( 64 km ) of tunnels . The Nuclear Waste Policy Act further limits the capacity of the repository to 63,000 metric tons ( 62,000 long tons ; 69,000 short tons ) of initial heavy metal in commercial spent fuel . The 104 U.S. commercial reactors currently operating will produce this quantity of spent fuel by 2014 , assuming that the spent fuel rods are not reprocessed . Currently , the US has no civil reprocessing plant .
The purpose of the Yucca Mountain project is to comply with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and develop a national site for spent nuclear fuel and high - level radioactive waste storage . The management and operating contractor as of April 1 , 2009 for the project is USA Repository Services ( USA - RS ) , a wholly owned subsidiary of URS Corporation ( now part of AECOM ) with supporting principal subcontractors Shaw Corporation ( now part of McDermott International Inc . ) and Areva Federal Services LLC ( now Orano federal services business ) . After the layoff of 800 employees on March 31 , 2009 , about 100 employees remained on the project until all technical staff were laid off by the end of FY 2010 due to zero funding in the 2011 budget for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management . Sandia National Laboratories had the responsibility for post closure analysis and ensuring compliance with the NWPA . The main tunnel of the Exploratory Studies Facility is U-shaped , 5 mi ( 8.0 km ) long and 25 ft ( 7.6 m ) wide . There are also several cathedral - like alcoves that branch from the main tunnel . It is in these alcoves that most of the scientific experiments were conducted . The emplacement drifts ( smaller diameter tunnels branching off the main tunnel ) where waste would have been stored were not constructed since they required a construction authorization by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . The repository has a statutory limit of 77,000 metric tons ( 85,000 short tons ) . To store this amount of waste would have required 40 miles ( 64 km ) of tunnels . The Nuclear Waste Policy Act further limits the capacity of the repository to 63,000 metric tons ( 62,000 long tons ; 69,000 short tons ) of initial heavy metal in commercial spent fuel . The 104 U.S. commercial reactors currently operating will produce this quantity of spent fuel by 2014 , assuming that the spent fuel rods are not reprocessed . Currently , the US has no civil reprocessing plant .