Historical Summary of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 Core Debris Transportation Campaign

Transport of the damaged core materials from the Unit 2 reactor of the Three
Mile Island Nuclear Power Station (TMI-2) to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
(INEL) for examination and storage presented many technical and institutional
challenges, including assessing the ability to transport the damaged core;
removing and packaging core debris in ways suitable for transport; developing a
transport package that could both meet Federal regulations and interface with the
facilities at TMI-2 and the INEL; and developing a transport plan, support logistics,
and public communications channels suited to the task. This report is a historical
summary of how the U.S. Department of Energy addressed those challenges and
transported, received, and stored the TMI-2 core debris at the INEL. Subjects discussed
include preparations for transport, loading at TMI-2, institutional issues,
transport operations, receipt and storage at the INEL, governmental inquiries/
investigations, and lessons learned. Because of public attention focused on the
TMI-2 Core Debris Transport Program, the exchange of information between the
program and public was extensive. This exchange is a focus for parts of this report
to explain why various operations were conducted as they were and why certain
technical approaches were employed. And, because of that exchange, the program
may have contributed to a better public understanding of such actions and may contribute
to planning and execution of similar future actions.