high-level transporation casks

Image of a high-level transportation cask (training only) cask have not be fully developed by the DOE for transportating high-level waste.

cask

 

 DOE’s OCRWM Waste Acceptance and Transportation

 

Cold War Legacy (OCRWM Site)

Related Transportation Information

If the U.S. Department of Energy receives a license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, it will begin shipping nuclear waste from commercial and government-owned sites to the repository sometime after 2017. This opening date of 2017 is a "best-achievable schedule" and is predicated upon enactment of new legislation.

The department must ship the waste according to strict federal regulations. The waste will be transported in heavily shielded casks certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission along approved transportation routes.

Additionally, the department will provide technical assistance and funding to states and Native American tribes for training emergency response personnel.

Supplemental Rail Corridor and Rail Alignment Environmental Impact Statements

The Department of Energy has released for public comment and review the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada – Nevada Rail Transportation Corridor and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Rail Alignment for the Construction and Operation of a Railroad in Nevada to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-0250F-S2D and DOE/EIS-0369D) (Draft Nevada Rail Corridor SEIS and Draft Rail Alignment EIS).

Public Comments (OCRWM website)

Transcripts from the scheduled public meetings for comment on the draft EIS

Prior to the draft supplemental the following documents were published:

If DOE selected the Caliente Route this map shows the representative rail and truck transportation routes.

If DOE selected the Mina Route this map shows the representative rail and truck transportation routes.


Fallon Impact Report - Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel by Highway to Yucca Mountain—Update 2007 If a high-level waste repository opens at Yucca Mountain, south of Fallon on US 95, a large number of truck shipments of nuclear waste are expected on US 95.  Truck shipments of nuclear waste through Fallon would lead to a radiation dose to the public even if the transport is incident-free, because no shielding material can reduce direct gamma radiation by 100 %.  As a result, residents, drivers, pedestrians and workers will get a radiation dose, which depends on the recipient’s exposure proximity and duration.  Depending on the population estimate, the population dose due to incident-free transportation of the entire waste that is planned to pass Fallon is as high as 9.45 person-rem.  Even though this dose and the resulting population risk are relatively small, it nevertheless increases the risk to develop cancer.

The Churchill County 1990 Master Plan discusses the transportation of hazardous materials, and recognizes that I-80, Hwy 50 and Hwy 95 as major highway routes used for the transportation of hazardous materials through Fallon and Churchill County. The more dangerous of these routes to the residents of Churchill County are Hwy 50 and Hwy 95 as they pass through Fallon. Local authorities can take steps to develop ordinances restricting the transportation of hazardous materials through their jurisdictions. In addition to transportation of hazardous materials by road, there must also be a concern for transportation by rail. Regional Inter-Modal Bypass Route Study

Currently, spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste are stored in temporary facilities at some 129 sites in 39 states. These storage sites are located in a mixture of cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Most are located near large bodies of water. In the United States today, more than 161 million people reside within 75 miles of temporarily stored nuclear waste.

Map

Map of Nevada showing potential rail routes.

 

 

 

TAD cannister schematic