My understanding is that most waste from nuclear power facilities in the US is stored on site, with a proposal that eventually it would be moved to Yucca Mountain.
The US Navy has a number of nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers, but I haven’t heard what they do with their spent fuel. On-site storage is obviously out of the question, and I would be extremely shocked if they dumped it overboard, so what do they do with it? Do they have their own nuclear waste site or do they ship it to Yucca Mountain? Where is the stuff?
This begs the questions: Why is a Naval research facility located in Idaho (a brief perusal of the web-site shows no answer)? And how is the material transported from the ocean to Idaho? By train from the Columbia River, maybe?
It was an early nuclear research site where the first naval reactor was developed, back in the early 50’s. I assume it was originally chosen because it was a remote location where the government owned a lot of land that wasn’t useful for anything else. The fuel is sent by train from Bremerton, WA and Norfolk, VA. Decomissioned reactor vessels are barged up the Columbia to be buried at the Hanford site.
If you want a detailed (and to me, interesting) explanation, read Proving the Principle available on the INEL’s website at http://www.inel.gov/proving-the-principle/ . Short version - the Navy had been using the area during WWII to test explosives and large-caliber ships’ guns in relative isolation while still being close enough to the West coast to get supplies readily. Eventually that land was taken over by the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission, now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) to be used for creating prototypes of nuclear reactors. Three prototype reactors for Naval use were built - those prototypes were then used to train Nuclear-qualified Naval personnel (all 3 were shut down in the early-to-mid 90s). The Army also had prototype facilities there, at least until their SL-1 reactor blew up.
Read the book - it’s fascinating - moreso if you are a Naval Nuke or trained at the Idaho prototype
Channeling mrAru, who was in radcon on the sub base, and spent 20 years crammed into a sub [when he wasnt on shore duty]
Submarines bunker [pull out and replace] fuel rods every 20 years or at the end of service life of the vessel. There are differences in scheduling due to teh specific type of reactor that the vessel has. Each type of vessel [sub, carrier] has a specifically designed reactor.
Fuel rod disposal takes place from the specific facility that they are in - east coast would be Portsnouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery Maine and Newport News Shipyard and Drydock Co in Hampton Roads, VA. West coast would be Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremmerton Wa and possibly Pearl Harbor [they may not be able to any further…] The rods go to be sorted and handled in Idaho Falls. Most of the rods are then returned to the manufacturer for reprocessing.
Low level waste [anything that is less than 1 rem per hour, which can be anything that has radioactive substances such as anticontamination suits, tools, cleaning supplies, small parts etc.] gets sorted and packaged for disposal at low level waste disposal sites [ref 20 CFR ] East coast the disposal site is in North Carolina, he isnt sure where the west coast is offhand, but he thinks Utah, one of the salt dome sites. The Navy uses commercial disposal sites for low level materials.