U. S. Spent Nuclear Fuel; A Market-Based Solution, A Report of the CSIS Proliferation Prevention Program

v. [1], 14 pages. Illustrations. Ink marks on page 'v" noted. References. Charles D. Ferguson is President of the Federation of American Scientists and an Adjunct Professor in Georgetown University's Security Studies Program. Trained as a physicist and nuclear engineer, he has worked on nuclear policy issues at the U.S. Department of State and the Council on Foreign Relations. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. CSIS was founded as the "Center for Strategic and International Studies" of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts policy studies and strategic analyses of political, economic and security issues throughout the world, with a specific focus on issues concerning international relations, trade, technology, finance, energy and geostrategy. In the University of Pennsylvania's 2013 Global Go To Think Tanks Report, CSIS is ranked the number one think tank in the world for "Top Defense and National Security Think Tanks" and was also ranked as the 4th best think tank for "Think Tanks with the Most Innovative Policy Ideas/Proposals". Since its founding, CSIS "has been dedicated to finding ways to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world," according to its website. The think tank is known for inviting well-known foreign policy and public service officials from the U.S. Congress and the executive branch including those affiliated with either the Democratic or the Republican Party as well as foreign officials of varying political backgrounds. The central planning approach to U.S. spent nuclear fuel management has been a glaring and unsuccessful exception to the trend toward a market-driven energy sector. This report envisions a market-driven approach, which would include eight components:Phase out utilities' payments to the federal government for spent fuel management in favor of payments into escrow funds.Reassess the radioisotope containment criteria for spent fuel repositories (i.e., the "million-year" benchmark).Do not require prompt deep burial of all spent fuel.Provide federal support for preparation of licenses for away-from-reactor spent fuel storage facilities.Remove nontechnical restrictions on maximum volumes and site license durations for away-from-reactor spent fuel management facilities.Treat all states equally in voluntary licensing processes, including Nevada.Allow the private sector options to: keep spent fuel at reactor sites; ship it to another of their reactor sites in the same state; ship it to a reactor site of another company in the same state and transfer the escrow fund balance to that company; or ship it out of state. Shipments out of state could be to a spent fuel storage facility that might or might not be located at a licensed deep underground repository, to a repository for prompt emplacement, or to a reprocessing facility if one is available.Allow states to import foreign spent fuel, to the extent consistent with U.S. nonproliferation policy and U.S. facilities' capacity to handle domestic spent nuclear fuel.…