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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

GOING THE DISTANCE?

THE SAFE TRANSPORT OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN THE UNITED STATES

Committee on Transportation of Radioactive Waste

Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board

Transportation Research Board

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this study was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (Grant No. DE-FG28-02RW12177), U.S. Department of Transportation (Order No. DTRS56-02-P-70041 and Contract No. DTPH56-05-C-0002), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Cooperative Agreement No. NRC-02-02-014), Electric Power Research Institute (Cooperative Agreement No. EP-P9056/C4563), National Cooperative Highway Research Program, and the National Academy of Sciences. All opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these agencies and organizations.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine


The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.


The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.


The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.


The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.


www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

NEAL F. LANE, Chair,

Rice University, Houston, Texas

THOMAS B. DEEN, Vice Chair,

National Research Council (retired), Stevensville, Maryland

JULIAN AGYEMAN,

Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

LISA M. BENDIXEN,

ICF Consulting, Lexington, Massachusetts

DENNIS C. BLEY,

Buttonwood Consulting, Inc., Oakton, Virginia

HANK C. JENKINS-SMITH,

Texas A&M University, College Station

MELVIN F. KANNINEN,

MFK Consulting Services, San Antonio, Texas

ERNEST J. MONIZ,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

JOHN W. POSTON, SR.,

Texas A&M University, College Station

LACY E. SUITER,

Federal Emergency Management Agency (retired), Alexandria, Virginia

JOSEPH M. SUSSMAN,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

ELIZABETH TEN EYCK,

ETE Consulting, Inc., Great Falls, Virginia

SETH TULER,

Social & Environmental Research Institute, Greenfield, Massachusetts

DETLOF VON WINTERFELDT,

University of Southern California, Los Angeles

THOMAS R. WARNE,

Tom Warne & Associates, LLC, South Jordan, Utah

CLIVE N. YOUNG,

United Kingdom Department for Transport, London

Board on Radioactive Waste Management Liaison1

NORINE E. NOONAN,

College of Charleston, South Carolina

Staff

KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Study Director,

Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board

JOSEPH MORRIS, Senior Program Officer,

Transportation Research Board

DARLA J. THOMPSON, Research Associate

LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Program Assistant

LEE FINEWOOD, Intern

BRANDON JONES, Intern

1  

Through February 2005, when the Board on Radioactive Waste Management was reorganized into the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

NUCLEAR AND RADIATION STUDIES BOARD

RICHARD A. MESERVE, Chair,

Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C.

S. JAMES ADELSTEIN, Vice Chair,

Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

HAROLD L. BECK,

Environmental Measurements Laboratory (retired), New York City, New York

JOEL S. BEDFORD,

Colorado State University, Fort Collins

ROBERT M. BERNERO,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (retired), Gaithersburg, Maryland

SUE B. CLARK,

Washington State University, Pullman

JAMES E. CLEAVER,

University of California, San Francisco

ALLEN G. CROFF,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Tennessee

DAVID E. DANIEL,

University of Texas at Dallas

SARAH C. DARBY,

Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU), Oxford, United Kingdom

SHARON L. DUNWOODY,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

RODNEY C. EWING,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

ROGER L. HAGENGRUBER,

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

DANIEL KREWSKI,

University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

KLAUS KÜHN,

Technische Universität Clausthal, Germany

SUSAN M. LANGHORST,

Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

NIKOLAY P. LAVEROV,

Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

MILTON LEVENSON,

Bechtel International (retired), Menlo Park, California

C. CLIFTON LING,

Memorial Hospital, New York City, New York

PAUL A. LOCKE,

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

WARREN F. MILLER,

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

ANDREW M. SESSLER,

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California

ATSUYUKI SUZUKI,

Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, Tokyo

JOHN C. VILLFORTH,

Food and Drug Law Institute (retired), Derwood, Maryland

PAUL L. ZIEMER,

Purdue University (retired), West Lafayette, Indiana

Staff

KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Senior Board Director

EVAN DOUPLE, Scholar

RICK JOSTES, Senior Program Officer

MICAH D. LOWENTHAL, Senior Program Officer

BARBARA PASTINA, Senior Program Officer

JOHN R. WILEY, Senior Program Officer

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

CATHERINE S. BERKLEY, Financial and Administrative Officer

TONI GREENLEAF, Financial and Administrative Associate

DARLA J. THOMPSON, Research Associate

COURTNEY GIBBS, Senior Program Assistant

LAURA D. LLANOS, Senior Program Assistant

MARILI ULLOA, Senior Program Assistant

JAMES YATES, JR., Office Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

JOHN R. NJORD, Chair,

Utah Department of Transportation, Salt Lake City

MICHAEL D. MEYER, Vice Chair,

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

MICHAEL W. BEHRENS,

Texas Department of Transportation, Austin

ALLEN D. BIEHLER,

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Harrisburg

LARRY L. BROWN, SR.,

Mississippi Department of Transportation, Jackson

DEBORAH H. BUTLER,

Norfolk Southern Corporation and Subsidiaries, Atlanta, Georgia

ANNE P. CANBY,

Surface Transportation Policy Project, Washington, D.C.

JOHN L. CRAIG,

Nebraska Department of Roads, Lincoln

DOUGLAS G. DUNCAN,

FedEx Freight, Memphis, Tennessee

NICHOLAS J. GARBER,

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

ANGELA GITTENS,

HNTB Corporation, Miami, Florida

GENEVIEVE GIULIANO,

University of Southern California, Los Angeles

BERNARD S. GROSECLOSE, JR.,

South Carolina State Ports Authority, Charleston

SUSAN HANSON,

Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts

JAMES R. HERTWIG,

CSX Intermodal, Jacksonville, Florida

GLORIA JEAN JEFF,

Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing

ADIB K. KANAFANI,

University of California, Berkeley

HERBERT S. LEVINSON, Herbert S. Levinson Transportation Consultant,

New Haven, Connecticut

SUE MCNEIL,

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark

MICHAEL R. MORRIS,

North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington

CAROL A. MURRAY,

New Hampshire Department of Transportation, Concord

MICHAEL S. TOWNES,

Hampton Roads Transit, Virginia

C. MICHAEL WALTON,

University of Texas, Austin

LINDA S. WATSON,

LYNX–Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Orlando

Staff

ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Executive Director

STEPHEN R. GODWIN, Director,

Studies and Information Services

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

Acknowledgments

The committee conducted an extensive information-gathering effort during this study and attempted to reach out broadly to a wide range of organizations and individuals concerned with transportation of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The successful completion of this report would not have been possible without the cooperation and assistance of a very large number of organizations and individuals. The committee would especially like to thank the following organizations and individuals for providing logistical support, advice, and/or information for this study:

  • The project sponsors, whose financial support made this study possible: Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transportation (DOT), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC). The committee would especially like to acknowledge the following individuals from these organizations for their support of the committee’s information-gathering efforts:

    • DOE: Gary Lanthrum, Robin Sweeney, Jeffrey Williams, Judith Holm, Corine Macaluso, Alex Thrower, James Wade, Russ Dyer, Bill Boyle, Barry Miles, Ned Larson, Jozette Booth, Paul Detwiler, and Sue Loudner

    • DOT: Dick Hannon, Richard Boyle, Michael Conroy, James Simmons, Kevin Blackwell, and Ryan Paquet

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
  • EPRI: John Kessler

  • NAS: E. William Colglazier

  • NCHRP: Crawford Jencks

  • USNRC: Bill Brach, Earl Easton, Jack Guttman, Mike Mayfield, Francis (Skip) Young, Wayne Hodges, and Bernie White

  • The State of Nevada (Robert Loux) and its consultants (Robert Halstead, Jim Hall, Marvin Resnikoff, and James Ballard)

  • Nevada counties: Clark County (Irene Navis, Fred Dilger, and Engelbrecht von Tiesenhausen), Eureka County (Abby Johnson), Lincoln County (Kevin Phillips), and Nye County (Les Bradshaw)

  • Nuclear industry: Nuclear Energy Institute (Steve Kraft and the late John Vincent); Exelon Nuclear Power Corp. (Jeffrey Benjamin, Annie Caputo, Adam Levin, and Bob Rybak); Progress Energy (Steven Edwards); Energy Resources International (Eileen Supko); Private Fuel Storage (John Parkyn); and Ron Pope (consultant)

  • States and state associations: New Mexico (Anne DeLain Clark and W. Scott Field) and Utah (Bill Sinclair); the Western Governors’ Association (Doug Larson); Western Interstate Energy Board (Bill Mackie); Council of State Governments—Midwest Office (Lisa Sattler and Thor Strong); Northeast Council of State Governments (Edward Wilds); and Southern States Energy Board (Chris Wells)

  • Emergency management organizations: Department of Homeland Security (Eric Tolbert, Federal Emergency Management Agency); Argonne National Laboratory (Gordon Veerman); City of Chicago Fire Department (Gene Ryan); Linn County, Iowa Emergency Management Agency (Ned Wright); and Illinois Emergency Management Agency (Tim Runyon)

  • Transportation organizations: Association of American Railroads (Bob Fronczak); Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (Patrick Brady); Tri-State Motor Transit (David Bennett); Transportation Technology Center (Jon Hannafious); and Union Pacific Railroad (Sandi Covi)

  • Universities and research organizations: Doug Ammerman and Ken Sorensen (Sandia National Laboratories); Bob O’Connor (National Science Foundation); Amy Goodin (University of New Mexico); Dennis Mileti (University of Colorado); Michael Lindell (Texas A&M University); James Flynn (Decision Research); Christiana Drew (University of Washington); Elaine Vaughan (University of California, Irvine); and Christopher Becker (University of Michigan)

  • Other nongovernmental organizations: National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (Veronica Eady); Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force (Judy Treichel); Citizen Alert (Michele Boyd and Peggy Maze); Southwest Research and Information Center (Don Hancock); International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management (Mervyn Tano); and the Keystone Center (Janesse Brewer)

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
  • The many other individuals who attended and offered personal comments at the committee’s meetings or provided information and materials for this report

A subgroup of committee members visited Germany and the United Kingdom during the study to become better acquainted with European transportation practices and experiences (see Appendix B). The committee would especially like to acknowledge and thank the following organizations for providing logistical support and information for this trip:

  • German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM); especially Manfred Hennecke and Thomas Böllinghaus, who arranged the committee’s visit to BAM to witness a package test

  • AREVA; especially Frederic Bailly and Vincent Roland, who arranged a briefing for the committee subgroup on French transportation operations

  • British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd. (BNFL); especially Colin Boardman and Jonathan Carter, who arranged and accompanied the committee subgroup on its tour of BNFL facilities

  • Roger Evans (London Assembly), Linda Hayes (Cricklewood Against Nuclear Trains), Steve Robinson (Environment Business Management), and Patrick van den Bulck (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) for sharing their perspectives with the committee about BNFL’s transport program

  • Christopher Pecover (U.K. Department of Transport) for accompanying the committee on its visit to the United Kingdom

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remains confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:

Mark Abkowitz, Vanderbilt University

John Ahearne, Sigma Xi and Duke University

Robert Bernero, Consultant

Sherwood Chu, Consultant

Emil Frankel, Parsons Brinckerhoff

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×

B. John Garrick, Consultant

Richard Garwin, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center (emeritus)

David Kocher, SENES Oak Ridge Center for Risk Assessment

Dick Meserve, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Kathleen Meyer, Keystone Scientific, Inc.

Bill Nix, Stanford University (emeritus)

Eugene Rosa, Washington State University

Frank Saccomanno, University of Waterloo

Gordon Veerman, Argonne National Laboratory

Chelsea White III, Georgia Institute of Technology

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Chris Whipple, ENVIRON International Corporation, and Lester Hoel, University of Virginia. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Research Council.

Finally, this report could not have been completed without the help of many National Research Council staff. The committee especially wants to acknowledge Kevin Crowley (Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board) and Joe Morris and Steve Godwin (Transportation Research Board) for their help in organizing the committee’s information-gathering meetings and developing the committee’s final report; Darla Thompson, Lee Finewood, and Brandon Jones (Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board) for assistance with research and writing; Laura Llanos (Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board) for handling committee logistics; and Steve Mautner and Mary Kalamaras (National Academies Press) for helping the committee better understand the audience for this report.

Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R12
Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R13
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2006. Going the Distance?: The Safe Transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11538.
×
Page R14
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This new report from the National Research Council's Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NRSB) and the Transportation Research Board reviews the risks and technical and societal concerns for the transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in the United States. Shipments are expected to increase as the U.S. Department of Energy opens a repository for spent fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain, and the commercial nuclear industry considers constructing a facility in Utah for temporary storage of spent fuel from some of its nuclear waste plants. The report concludes that there are no fundamental technical barriers to the safe transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive and the radiological risks of transport are well understood and generally low. However, there are a number of challenges that must be addressed before large-quantity shipping programs can be implemented successfully. Among these are managing "social" risks. The report does not provide an examination of the security of shipments against malevolent acts but recommends that such an examination be carried out.

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