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U.S. Department of Energy
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Department of Energy Spent Fuel Shipping Campaigns: Comparisons of Transportation Plans and Lessons Learned

Conference ·
OSTI ID:826204
Over the last 30 years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has successfully and safely transported shipments of spent nuclear fuel over America's highways and railroads. During that time, an exemplary safety record has been established with no identifiable fatalities, injuries, or environmental damage caused by the radioactive nature of the shipments. This paper evaluates some rail and truck shipping campaigns, planning processes, and selected transportation plans to identify lessons learned in terms of planning and programmatic activities. The intent of this evaluation is to document best practices from current processes and previous plans for DOE programs preparing or considering future plans. DOE's National Transportation Program (NTP) reviewed 13 plans, beginning with core debris shipments from Three Mile Island to current, ongoing fuel campaigns. This paper describes lessons learned in the areas of: emergency planning, planning information, security, shipment prenotification, emergency notification/response, terrorism/sabotage risk, and recovery and cleanup, as well as routing, security, carrier/driver requirements, transportation operational contingencies, tracking, inspections and safe parking.
Research Organization:
National Transportation Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Office of Transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC; Science Applications International Corporation, Germantown, Maryland (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
OSTI ID:
826204
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English