Shipment of Taiwanese research reactor spent nuclear fuel (Phase 2): Environmental assessment

Technical Report · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:6963625

The proposed action is to transport approximately 1100 spent fuel rods from a foreign research reactor in Taiwan by sea to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and then overland by truck to the receiving basin for offsite fuels at the Savannah River Plant (SRP) for reprocessing to recover uranium and plutonium. The analysis of the impacts of the proposed action have been evaluated and shown to have negligible impact on the local environments. The calculations have been completed using the RADTRAN III code. PWR spent fuel was analyzed as a benchmark to link the calculations in this analysis to those in earlier environmental documentation. Cumulative total, maximum annual, and per shipment risks were calculated. The results indicate that the PWR spent fuel shipment risks are somewhat lower than those previously estimated. The cumulative and maximum annual normal, or incident-free, risks associated with the shipment of Taiwanese research reactor spent fuel is a factor of 10 lower than that for PWR fuel, and the cumulative and maximum annual accident radiological risks are a factor of about 2.2 lower than that for PWR spent fuel. As a result, the port risks are about a factor of 10 larger than the risk of overland transport. All of the risks calculated are small. The PWR risk values are similar to those judged by the NRC to be small enough not to warrant increased stringency in regulations. The Taiwanese research reactor spent fuel shipment risk values are smaller yet. 51 refs., 22 tabs.

• Research Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC
• OSTI ID: 6963625
• Report Number(s): DOE/EA-0363; ON: DE88014995
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ASIA
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
EVALUATION
FUEL ELEMENTS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ISLANDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SPENT FUEL ELEMENTS
TAIWAN
TRANSPORT
TRUCKS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VEHICLES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES