Year
1999
Abstract
In the past the transportation of low-level radioactive waste has concentrated on the shipment of waste generated as a result of facility operations. The low volumes and higher activity of this opera- tional waste along with disposal site operations lent itself to shipment by highway as the most effective shipping mode. Recently there has been a change. The Department of Energy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are involved in numerous site remediation activities. On the commercial side more and more nuclear reactors are undergoing decommissioning. The waste generated by these activities can best be characterized as very high volume but very low activity. In addition new facilities have developed with disposal site operations that lent themselves to handling these high volume low activities waste. For the most part these high volume low activity shipments can be more effectively handled by rail. This paper will address the basic concepts of rail operations as it relates to low-level radioactive and mixed wastes. It will describe and evaluate the three major rail shipment operations. These opera- tions include direct rail shipment, intermodal operations, and bulk transfer operations. It will exam- ine the regulatory and operational requirements for proper package selections. Specifically the following packages will be described dedicated rail cars, supper load wrapper, bulk bags, intermodals, and containerized waste. This paper will also examine the required shipping and disposal paper work required for rail shipments and the differences and similarities to highway shipments. It will also identify potential problem areas experienced with rail shipment and lessons learned to correct those problems.