Overview of Requirements for Using Overweight Vehicles to Ship Spent Nuclear Fuel
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- Booz Allen Hamilton, Washington, DC (United States)
- Booz Allen Hamilton, Santa Fe, NM (United States)
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada, considered a range of options for transportation. In evaluating the impacts of the mostly-legal weight truck scenario, DOE assumed that some shipments would use overweight trucks. The use of overweight trucks is also considered in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada, issued for public comment in Fall 2007. With the exception of permit requirements and operating restrictions, the vehicles for overweight shipments would be similar to legal-weight truck shipments but might weigh as much as 52,200 kilograms (115,000 pounds). The use of overweight trucks was determined to be acceptable for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) Program because the payload is not divisible and the packaging alone may make shipments overweight. Overweight truck shipments are common, and states routinely issue overweight permits, some for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight up to 58,500 kilograms (129,000 pounds). This paper will present an overview of state overweight truck permitting policies and national and regional approaches to promote safety and uniformity. In conclusion: Overweight truck shipments are made routinely by carriers throughout the country. State permits are obtained by the carriers or by companies that provide permitting services to the carriers. While varying state permit restrictions may add complexity to OCRWM's planning activities, the well-established experience of commercial carriers and efforts to bring uniformity to the permitting process should allow the overweight shipment of SNF to be a viable option. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21319806
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-10-WM-08472; TRN: US10V0638061997
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2008 Waste Management Symposium - WM2008/WM'08: HLW, TRU, LLW/ILW, Mixed, Hazardous Wastes and Environmental Management - Phoenix Rising: Moving Forward in Waste Management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2008; Other Information: Country of input: France
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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