NRC votes to end studies on expedited cask storage

摘要

In a 4-1 vote, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the staff's recommendation that no further generic assessments be pursued related to possible regulatory actions to require the expedited transfer of spent fuel to dry cask storage. The dissenting vote was cast by Chairman Allison Macfarlane, who stated her preference for continuing the assessments as they relate to broader spent fuel management alternatives. Macfarlane did, however, approve ending the assessment of expedited spent fuel transfer in connection with seismic hazards (NN, June 2014, p. 26), noting, "It is not clear whether it is realistically possible to rapidly defuel several thousand fuel assemblies from U.S. plants within five years."