Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The system for transporting waste to a deep geologic repository will build on
that U.S. and foreign experience.
Issues to be considered in developing the transportation system include:
•
Selection of transportation routes and modes
•
Emergency response planning and training
•
Safeguards and security
•
Operational practices
•
Communications and information access
•
Waste packaging for transportation
•
Worker protection,
training,
training standards,
and qualifications
(OCRWM 2003)
These issues are to be discussed in detail with the states and tribes through
whose land the waste will be transported.
Section 137 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires the Department of
Energy to use private contractors as much as possible in transporting radioactive
waste to the deep geologic repository. According to the OCRWM plan, pri-
vate contractors will manufacture the shipping casks, operate the transportation
system, and provide maintenance services.
The transportation system is likely to require capacity to ship radioactive
waste in trucks and by rail. In April 2004, the Department of Energy decided
that most of the radioactive waste would be transported to the repository by rail
using dedicated trains—meaning trains whose only cargo is the radioactive waste
(OCRWM 2008). Reasons for selection of a rail system include increased safety
and security, as well as decreased operating costs. Nuclear fuel assemblies are
very heavy (uranium is denser than lead), and the casks used to transport them
must be made of dense metal several inches thick to provide adequate radiation
shielding. Because of the weight limits on trucks, each truck can carry only a
few used nuclear fuel assemblies, typically one to nine, depending on the design
of the fuel assemblies. A rail cask can carry nearly 10 times as many assemblies.
Transporting the used nuclear fuel by rail will result in fewer shipments. Some
truck casks will be needed because not all nuclear power plants are currently
accessible by rail, and trucks will be required to transport the used fuel from
the power plant to the nearest railroad. As of 2008, there was no rail access to
Yucca Mountain. Current railroads can get the used nuclear fuel to within about
255 miles of the proposed repository. The Department of Energy is considering
plans to construct a rail line from either Caliente or Mina, Nevada, to Yucca
Mountain, but a rail line has not been approved and construction has not begun
(OCRWM 2008).
One other component of the transportation system needs to be discussed. It is
the Transportation, Aging and Disposal Canister (TAD). Currently, used nuclear
fuel is expected to be stored at the reactor in one type of cask, transported to
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