How is spent fuel stored at Vermont Yankee?
Like all U.S. nuclear power plants, Vermont Yankee is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to safely store spent fuel onsite until it is removed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Spent fuel is removed from the reactor once every 18 months when the plant undergoes refueling. Spent fuel is currently stored in an on-site fuel pool – a heavily reinforced concrete structure filled with water that acts as a natural barrier to radiation and cools the spent fuel. U.S. nuclear plants were designed under the assumption that the federal government would remove the spent fuel in a timely manner throughout operation. Because the government has not begun moving the fuel to the anticipated permanent storage facility in Yucca Mountain (Nevada), a growing number of plants – including Vermont Yankee – have fuel pools that are nearing their storage capacity. In order to continue operating, these plants need to supplement their fuel pools and have done so with dry fuel storage fa
