DOE tells Congress reclassifying reprocessing waste will lower costs

The Department of Energy (DOE) in a report to Congress is preliminarily concluding that its reclassification of reprocessing nuclear waste, which effectively lessens waste disposal requirements, could save billions of dollars in disposal costs and accelerate the process while maintaining public safety. “Despite the uncertainties implicit in [rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM)] cost savings estimates, the preliminary conclusion appears valid -- a change in classification of reprocessing wastes could save taxpayers potentially many billions of dollars, accelerate mission completion, and maintain the level...