Abundant Optimism at the 32nd Annual Spent Fuel Management Seminar

In mid-January 2017, about 100 nuclear industry professionals once again met in Washington, DC, for the 32nd Annual Spent Fuel Management Seminar, sponsored by the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), in partnership with the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council (NIC). Participants and presenters included representatives from Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. national laboratories, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), utilities, cask vendors, consultants, and more. As always, the conference included a number of relevant presentations on a wide variety of topics related to spent fuel management, and this year, the participants focused on the hope that the new Administration and Congress will follow the law and resurrect the Yucca Mountain program. NIC Executive Director David Blee said in his opening remarks that after eight years in the wilderness, we will see a renewed focus on Yucca Mountain in the coming months, and that the NIC is working to make Yucca Mountain great again.