DOE-EM SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL PACKAGING AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

摘要

By the terms of a Memorandum of Agreementrnexecuted between the U.S. Department of Energy'srn(DOE's) Environmental Management (EM) andrnRadioactive Waste Management (RW) branches, thernNational Spent Nuclear Fuel Program (NSNFP) is chargedrnwith the responsibility to design and procure a packagingrnand transportation system for spent nuclear fuels owned byrnDOE-EM. 1 According to the provisions of the NuclearrnWaste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, the transportationrnsystem must be licensed under the regulations promulgatedrnby the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in Part 71rnof Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulationsrn(10CFR71).2. 3rnAlthough the system concept prepared by the NSNFPrnis intended for the transportation of SNF owned by DOEEM,rnthe bases of the system are the various High-LevelrnWaste (HLW) Vitrification canisters currently in use at thernSavannah River and West Valley sites and proposed forrnthe Hanford and Idaho sites. The objective of thisrnpresentation is to briefly discuss the development of DOEEM'srnSNF packaging and transportation system and itsrnrelationship to the HLW Vitrification canisters currently inrnuse and proposed for the future. It is an excellent examplernof how a seemingly minor decision made some fifteenrnyears ago has an immense and pervasive impact on currentrnand future developments.