The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has pushed back the deadline for an environmental study on spent fuel storage that has held up the agency's ability to issue new and renewed licenses for nuclear plants.
In 2012, an appeals court mandated that the NRC conduct a new environmental analysis of a rule changed two years earlier that increased the allowable storage time for spent fuel at nuclear plants from 30 years to 60 years after their licenses expire. The environmental study and its accompanying regulations were scheduled to be finished by September. But in a release last week, the NRC said that deadline has been pushed back to Oct. 3.
The agency blamed the delay on last fall's government shutdown and a lapse in appropriations from Congress. While the NRC effectively funds itself by collecting fees, that money still must go through the federal budgeting process before it can be spent. The shutdown delayed meetings, and a public comment period was extended by nearly a month.
“Waste confidence remains a high agency priority,” NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane said in the release. “Our staff will continue to work aggressively to meet its schedule milestones and come as close as possible to meeting the original deadline. However, it’s important for the public and our licensees to know now that, due to unanticipated events, the staff may need some extra time to give the array of public comments the attention they deserve.”