Nuclear waste and how it affects Arkansas

The U.S. Department of Energy submitted an 8,600 page license application today to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking authorization to construct America’s first repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. What's this mean for us in Arkansas?

• $282 million had been paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund as of March 31, 2008 by the owner of commercial nuclear reactors in Arkansas. They currently owe $178 million in one-time fees.

• 29% of the electricity produced in Arkansas in 2007 was generated by nuclear power.

• As of the end of 2007, there was an estimated 1,100 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in Arkansas with 580 metric tons in dry storage systems.

• The Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) site, which has two operating commercial power reactors, is located in Arkansas.

• ANO has a dry storage facility with SNF loaded into dry storage systems.

• Over 250,000 people in Arkansas live within 50 miles of a commercial nuclear reactor.

Here's more from the U.S. Department of Energy.