MEET THE MAXIMALLY EXPOSED MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC: THE SERVICE STATION ATTENDANT FOR SPENT FUEL GOING TO YUCCA MOUNTAIN

摘要

According to the 1999 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed YuccaMountain repository site, members of the public along transportation routes by which spentnuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is shipped will receive annualradiation doses less than 100 mrem/yr, the international (ICRP) and national (Department ofEnergy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission) radiation limit for members of the public. For the'Mostly Truck' national transportation scenario, the DEIS specifically concludes that themaximally exposed member of the public, a service station attendant along the primary shippingroute will receive no more than 100 mrem/yr, or 2.4 rem over 24 years.Based on the assumptions in the DEIS scenarios, however, it is highly likely that service stationattendants along shipping routes will be called upon to fuel and service the rigs carrying SNF andHLW to Yucca Mountain. After reevaluating the DEIS, and making realistic alternativeassumptions where necessary, the authors conclude that these attendants are likely to receivesubstantially more than 100 mrem/yr external dose, and perhaps several times that dose (up to500 mrem/yr), unless mitigating measures are adopted. This is particularly true in Western stateswhere refueling opportunities are limited, and the distances between fuel sources in rural areasmay be up to 100 miles.In terms of risk, the DEIS substantially underestimates the major health risk to these attendants.As estimated by the authors, the maximum risk to an attendant approaches 10~(-3)/yr. This risk is atleast 5 times higher than the annual risk of being a motor vehicle fatality (based on currentNational Safety Council accident statistics and census figures), a risk that in itself is consideredintolerable and which intense efforts are underway to reduce.