DOE selects transport mode for HLW, spent fuel

摘要

The department of Energy has decided that railcars are the best method for transporting spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, in Nevada, a decision that is being questioned by the state's attorney general. Under the mostly rail scenario, the DOE would rely on a combination of rail, truck, and possibly barge to transport to Yucca Mountain up to 70 000 metric tons of commercial spent fuel and defense HLW. To provide for the transport of these materials, the DOE announced its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the alignment, construction, and operation of a rail line from a site near Caliente, Nev., to Yucca Mountain. A notice in the April 8 Federal Register gave the public 45 days (later amended) to comment on the project. The Caliente rail line would run 318 miles within a corridor one-quarter-mile wide. The corridor is described by the DOE as extending in a westerly direction to the north- west corner of the Nevada Test and Training Range, before turning south-southeast to the repository at Yucca Mountain. The DOE also is proposing to build and operate a rail-to-truck transfer facility, at a location where an existing mainline railroad and a highway meet, to support legal-weight truck transportation until the rail system is fully operational.