Environmental Assessment of Urgent-Relief Acceptance of Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10151839· OSTI ID:10151839

The Department of Energy has completed the Environmental Assessment (EA) of Urgent-Relief Acceptance of Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed action. The EA and FONSI are enclosed for your information. The Department has decided to accept a limited number of spent nuclear fuel elements (409 elements) containing uranium that was enriched in the United States from eight research reactors in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. This action is necessary to maintain the viability of a major US nuclear weapons nonproliferation program to limit or eliminate the use of highly enriched uranium in civil programs. The purpose of the EA is to maintain the cooperation of the foreign research reactor operators with the nonproliferation program while a more extensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is prepared on a proposed broader policy involving the acceptance of up to 15,000 foreign research reactor spent fuel elements over a 10 to 15 year period. Based on an evaluation of transport by commercial container liner or chartered vessel, five eastern seaboard ports, and truck and train modes of transporting the spent fuel overland to the Savannah River Sits, the Department has concluded that no significant impact would result from any combination of port and made of transport. In addition, no significant impacts were found from interim storage of spent fuel at the Savannah River Site.

• Research Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 10151839
• Report Number(s): DOE/EA--0912; ON: DE94012128; NC: NONE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
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SPENT FUEL STORAGE
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