July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Finding a permanent site for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. isn’t “an urgent problem,” the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Gregory Jaczko, who took over as chairman of the agency in May, said in an interview that the material can continue to be stored safely for the time being at nuclear power plants.

“Certainly, in the short term it’s not an urgent problem,” Jaczko, 38, said in the interview yesterday at the agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. “It is an issue we need to be aware of and be diligent about, but it’s not a crisis by any means.”

President Barack Obama disclosed in February budget documents that he was abandoning a 20-year effort to store radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, had sought the demise of the $96 billion project. Jaczko is a former aide to Reid.

The administration is examining ways to handle radioactive waste that the Energy Department says is now spread among more than 120 sites in 39 states.

There are 104 operating commercial reactors in the U.S., and 17 applications have been submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build 26 more reactors. The commission oversees operations at existing reactors, as well as licensing new reactors and regulating waste facilities.

Exelon Corp., owner of the largest fleet of U.S. commercial reactors, and Entergy Corp., with the second-largest, are among companies that have sought commission approval to build new nuclear power plants.

“Probably 100 years” is a short time frame for storing fuel, Jaczko said. “Changes aren’t likely to happen significantly in that period of time with the fuel.”

Chu’s Panel

Energy Secretary Steven Chu has proposed a panel that would look at the problem of nuclear waste and make recommendations for a permanent solution. Chu has sent suggested names for the panel to the White House.

Jaczko said his commission will delay issuing a regulation to change requirements for when spent fuel must be removed from reactor sites. A decision on the rule, known as waste confidence, was supposed to be made by the end of this month, Jaczko said in a July 8 speech.

The existing rule allowed on-site storage of waste with the assumption that the Yucca Mountain site would be accepting the spent fuel by 2025. In October 2008, the commission proposed amending the rule to reflect the possibility that Yucca Mountain may not be open by then. The commission staff has proposed that the rule be changed so that waste could remain on-site for 50 to 60 years after a reactor is permanently shut down.

‘Even Longer Period’

“We might find that it’s an even longer period of time,” Jaczko said.

It is “the number one priority for me here in the short term to get that rule done,” said Jaczko. “It’s a complex rule and we have to make sure we get it right.”

He declined to give a new estimate for when the agency would issue the rule.

Jaczko said it was his responsibility as head of the agency to be sure it has the “regulatory infrastructure in place to deal with whatever options may be presented in the future.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Seeley in Washington at tseeley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 23, 2009 00:00 EDT