According to federal law, certain high-level mixed waste must be vitrified-a process in which the waste is immobilized in glass-and disposed of in a deep geologic repository. Most of this waste is stored in tanks at 3 DOE sites. DOE also oversees the treatment and disposal of about 90 million gallons of radioactive waste from the nation's nuclear weapons program.If Congress were to authorize a new consent-based process for siting a repository, it could help break the impasse over a permanent solution for commercial spent nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, the federal government has paid billions of dollars in damages to utilities for failing to dispose of this waste and may potentially have to pay tens of billions of dollars more in coming decades. As a result, the amount of spent nuclear fuel stored at nuclear power plants across the country continues to grow by about 2,000 metric tons a year. DOE is responsible for disposing of this high-level waste in a permanent geologic repository but has yet to build such a facility because policymakers have been at an impasse over what to do with this spent fuel since 2010. The nation has over 85,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants.There are a number of ways that DOE could improve how it stores, treats, and disposes of this waste. The Department of Energy (DOE) oversees the treatment and disposal of radioactive waste from the nation’s nuclear weapons program it is also responsible for siting, building, and operating a geologic repository to dispose of nuclear waste. For instance, high-level nuclear waste remains highly radioactive for tens of thousands of years and must be disposed of in such a way that it can be securely isolated for a long period of time. There are three main types of nuclear waste-high-level, transuranic, and low-level waste-and each type must be disposed of according to its risk to human health and the environment. These uses generate nuclear waste, and this waste must be disposed of in safe and effective ways. Radiation is used in many different industries, including as fuel for nuclear power plants and in the production of nuclear weapons for national defense.
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