Technical Issues That Need to be Addressed in Preparing a Large Program to Transport Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-level Radioactive Waste

Nuclear waste transportation has been a topic of interest to the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) for many years and has been the subject of Board meetings and associated correspondence. In 2010, the Board published a report evaluating the technical bases for the extended storage and transportation of SNF. Other groups have also evaluated the issues associated with transporting nuclear waste.The Board held its Summer 2018 Board Meeting in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on the topic of technical and integration issues that will need to be addressed in preparing a nationwide effort to transport SNF and HLW.Based on the presentations at the meeting and previous interactions with the DOE, the Board made several observations, including:• The DOE’s preliminary evaluations of removing SNF from shutdown sites, which involved working with site personnel, utilities, and local stakeholders, have generated valuable information and are important to continue.• The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) transportation approach represents a useful model and provides relevant lessons for the development of a nationwide transportation program for SNF and HLW.• Given the need for new cask and canister designs, several meeting presenters noted that the lead times for licensing and procurement of any new types of casks and canisters may be greater than 10 years, and therefore considerable advanced coordination with the NRC will be required.• The advances made by the DOE-NE in developing the system analysis and planning tools are to be commended.The Board is developing a report on these and related technical issues and the Board expects to publish the report in 2019.