Analysis of Transportation Options for Commercial Spent Fuel in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is laying the groundwork for implementing interim storage and associated transportation of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) consistent with the Administration’s Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel. This includes preparing for large-scale transportation of commercial SNF from reactor sites to a consolidated interim storage facility (ISF) and/or repository. Transportation system analysis is being conducted to help inform these efforts and this paper describes some initial high-level analysis results.The U.S. commercial SNF inventory is projected to be approximately 140,000 MTU by 2055. The transportation of this SNF would require a large-scale shipping campaign spread over at least a few decades. Developing and operating such a transportation system successfully necessitates advance planning to address various technical and programmatic challenges. This task is further complicated by the uncertainties involving the waste management system including future SNF management practices, and locations of potential interim storage facilities and a repository for commercial SNF.The purpose of this study was to provide an initial high-level evaluation of what it would take to transport all of the SNF from shutdown and currently operating U.S. commercial reactor sites while accounting for the uncertainties in the waste management system and using timing assumptions from the Administration’s Strategy. This evaluation was not meant to provide specific details or suggest specific options. Rather, it was designed to identify the issues that might be important for planning transportation campaigns in the future.The logistics analysis results provided information regarding the potential size of the transportation fleet; the number of trips; and the number of loaded consist miles. The results of the cost analysis provided the Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) capital, operational, and maintenance costs of the transportation system. This study produced system-level data and offered useful insights for a large-scale commercial SNF transportation capability and its role as an integral part of the broader waste management system.