Year
1987
Abstract
Nuclear waste transportation, an essential part of the DOE's overall waste management responsibilities, entails moving discharged spent fuel (SF) from various U.S. reactors to a geologic repository, possibly via a monitored retrievable storage facility. The SF will be moved in special transportation casks, designed to satisfy stringent performance criteria. Various cask designs, all satisfying the performance criteria but differing in certain other design features, will be considered for the transportation role. This paper discusses the use of life cycle cost (LCC) as an aid in choosing among basic cask design concepts, in evaluating specific cask design features, and in assessing certain transportation system operating alternatives. The LCC approach is illustrated through analyses of several examples representing competing cask design concepts, cask design features, and system operating options.