Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
under normal and accident conditions, provide both heat and radiation shielding,
and prevent nuclear criticality (10 CFR 71).
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also regulates the physical
protection of shipments of commercial used nuclear fuel. The NRC approves
routes for transporting used nuclear fuel on the highways. All routes must meet
the Department of Transportation regulations specified in 49 CFR 397.10. After
the route is approved by the NRC, a company making a shipment of used nuclear
fuel along that route must fulfill several requirements (USNRC 2007a):
•
Notify the NRC of the shipment.
•
Have procedures in place for dealing with any emergency during the ship-
ment.
•
Notify the governor or governor's designee of each state through which
the shipment will pass.
•
Work with local law enforcement agencies to make arrangements for ship-
ping through their jurisdictions.
•
Provide armed guards for the shipment in densely populated areas.
At the present time, there is no specific guidance for selecting rail routes
for shipments of used nuclear fuel, but regulations for selecting rail routes for
shipments of hazardous materials must be met.
Department of Transportation regulations govern selection of the truck routes
for used nuclear fuel. The route selection methodology is to first identify the
objective—which, in the case of transportation of used nuclear fuel is to mini-
mize impact of the shipment, under both normal and accident conditions, on, for
example, public health and safety, the environment, and property. The next steps
are to develop a list of metrics (comparison factors) to consider when determin-
ing the shipment's impact, identify alternate routes, evaluate those routes in light
of the metrics to be considered, and select the route that minimizes impact.
For shipments of used nuclear fuel, both primary and secondary route com-
parison factors are identified. In addition, both radiological and nonradiological
impacts must be considered. Primary comparison factors include radiation expo-
sure under normal and accident conditions and economic risk due to accidental
release of radioactive material. Secondary comparison factors include availability
of emergency response teams, ability to evacuate and area, presence of facilities
that cannot be easily evacuated such as prisons or hospitals, and potential damage
as a result of traffic accidents. The final secondary comparison factor, damage
as a result of traffic accidents, is a nonradiological factor.
Sandia National Laboratories has developed a very detailed computer program
called RADTRAN that is used to evaluate the risk associated with shipments of
used nuclear fuel along potential routes. RADTRAN takes into account several
factors for each route to be evaluated, including traffic pattern data and accident
rate data, stopping points along the route, type of package used, composition
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