SEATTLE -- A presidential commission Friday recommended the nation find at least one site, maybe more, to store the nation's growing inventory of nuclear waste.
No decision was made, but some of the first sites considered are so-called orphan sites where nuclear reactors are no longer operating but their waste is stored there.
The former Trojan Nuclear Power Plant near Rainier, Ore. is one such site. It's not clear yet if the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state is considered an orphan. Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station is currently operating there.
That plant, like many others, stores its spent nuclear fuel in cooling pools before transferring it to dry casks which resemble concrete silos. Indications are the committee prefers that type of storage.
A final decision is expected early next year.
An estimated 65,000 tons of spent fuel rods are being stored at sites in 35 states.
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