The United States currently stores over 90,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel across 39 states, including 73 commercial nuclear power plants and numerous university and government facilities. This issue is becoming more pressing due to a renewed interest in nuclear power, spurred partly by the energy demands of artificial intelligence data centers. Despite producing about 2,000 metric tons of high-level waste annually, the U.S. lacks a long-term solution, having failed to establish a permanent disposal site for nearly seven decades.
The global leading strategy for high-level radioactive waste storage involves deep geological repositories, where waste is buried hundreds of meters underground in concrete. While no such operational facility exists for spent fuel yet, Finland is at the forefront, testing its facility in 2026 with operations potentially starting later this year. Other countries are also making progress, positioning the U.S. to lag behind in adopting this strategy.
Experts are advocating for a new, independent organization in the U.S. to manage nuclear waste, similar to successful models in Finland, Canada, and France. This proposed "NuCorp" would be a federally chartered public benefit or non-profit corporation, led by nuclear reactor owners. Its mission would be to implement a permanent waste disposal program, taking the responsibility away from the federal government, which has been criticized for making little progress on this issue over the last 15 years.
This approach aims to address the significant challenge of waste disposal that has resulted in over 100,000 tons of spent fuel accumulating in temporary storage across the U.S. The creation of such an independent entity, with dedicated funding and a clear mandate, is seen as crucial for the U.S. to finally develop and execute a permanent solution for its growing nuclear waste problem, a process that can take decades, as exemplified by Finland's journey since the 1980s.
