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FEDERAL COMMITMENTS REGARDING USED FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL WASTES

At the request of the Blue Ribbon Commission Staff,1 Van Ness Feldman examined the following question: What commitments has the Federal Government made to states, communities, private companies, and others related to the disposal of used fuel and high-level wastes? Spent nuclear fuel (referred to herein as “used fuel”) and high-level radioactive waste (“HLW”) are the by-products of commercial nuclear energy generation, defense production of nuclear weapons materials, and research and medical activities that utilize nuclear reactors or fission product nuclides. This paper describes the Federal

TEV Collision with an Emplaced 5-DHLW/DOE SNF Short Co-Disposal Waste Package

The objective of this calculation is to determine the structural response of the 5-DHLW/DOE (Defense High Level Waste/Department of Energy) SNF (Spent Nuclear Fuel) Short Co-disposal Waste Package (WP) when subjected (while in the horizontal orientation emplaced in the drift) to a collision by a loaded (with WP) Transport and Emplacement Vehicle (TEV) due to an over-run. The scope of this calculation is limited to reporting the calculation results in terms of maximum total stress intensities (Sis) in the outer corrosion barrier (dCB).

Overview of High-Level Nuclear Waste Materials Transportation: Processes, Regulations, Experience and Outlook in the U.S.

Every year, more than 300 million packages of hazardous material are shipped in the
United States (U.S.). Most of the hazardous material shipped – about 97 percent – is
flammable, explosive, corrosive or poisonous. About 1 percent – three million packages –
of the hazardous materials shipped annually contains radioactive material, most of them
from medical and industrial applications. [DOT 1998b]
Spent nuclear fuel comprises a very small fraction of the hazardous materials packages

Transportation System Requirements Document Revision 5

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), as amended, authorized the DOE to develop and manage a Federal system for the disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) and High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW). The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste (OCRWM) was created to manage acceptance, transportation and disposal of SNF and HLW in a manner that protects public health, safety, and the environment; enhances national and energy security; and merits public confidence.

Transportation and Storage Subcommittee Report to the Full Commission DRAFT

The main question before the Transportation and Storage Subcommittee was whether the United States
should change its approach to storing and transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level
radioactive waste (HLW) while one or more permanent disposal facilities are established.
To answer this question and to develop specific recommendations and options for consideration by the
full Commission, the Subcommittee held multiple meetings and deliberative sessions, visited several

NUREG-1768 United States Nuclear Regulatory Commisssion Package Performance Study Test Protocals

This test protocols report presents the NRC staff’s preliminary plans for an experimental phase of the Package Performance Study (PPS), which is examining the response of transportation casks to extreme transportation accident conditions. The staff proposes to conduct tests of full-scale rail and full-scale truck casks including a high-speed impact with an unyielding surface followed by an extreme fire test. The NRC has a contract in place with Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to conduct the impact and fire tests and to carry out a series of analyses to support the test program.

Dry Storage of Used Fuel Transition to Transport FCRD-UFD-2012-000253

This report provides details of dry storage cask systems and contents in U.S. for commercial light water
reactor fuel. Section 2 contains details on the canisters used to store approximately 86% of assemblies in
dry storage in the U.S. Transport cask details for bare fuels, dual purpose casks and canister transport
casks are included in Section 3. Section 4 details the inventory of those shutdown sites without any
operating reactors. Information includes the cask type deployed, transport license and status as well as

Spent Fuel Transportation Risk Assessment, Final Report

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is responsible for issuing regulations for the
packaging of spent fuel (and other large quantities of radioactive material) for transport that
provide for public health and safety during transport (Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) Part 71, “Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Waste,” dated
January 26, 2004). In September 1977, the NRC published NUREG-0170, “Final Environmental
Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes,” which

Transportation and Storage Subcommittee Report to the Full Commission - Updated Report

To organize its investigation of whether changes are needed in the nation’s current approach to storing and eventually transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW), the Subcommittee began by asking a series of related questions:
• What role should storage play in an integrated U.S. waste management system and strategy in the future?

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