Safety Compliance Oversight Plan for Rail Transportation of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel. Ensuring the Safe, Routine Rail Transportation of Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel.

摘要

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has regulatory oversight for the safety of railroad operations within the United States. Ranking at the top of FRA's priorities is the safety of rail shipments involving Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF)1 and High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLRW)2. These materials have been transported safely by rail in the United States for more than 40 years. In the mid- 1980s, partly as a result of the rail shipments from the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant, FRA implemented its High-Level Nuclear Waste Rail Transportation Inspection Policy3 for all known rail shipments of SNF and HLRW. Under FRA's Inspection Policy, there has never been a rail accident or incident involving the transportation of SNF or HLRW that has resulted in a release of the material from the packaging. Furthermore, there has never been a single death or injury resulting from a rail shipment of radioactive material. Nevertheless, past rail shipping campaigns have shown that the nature of the potential hazards associated with radioactive materials elicits a high degree of public awareness and concern regarding the safety and integrity of SNF and HLRW shipments by rail. Furthermore, these shipments are projected to increase dramatically in volume in the forseeable future; 75 to 90 percent of the SNF and HLRW will be transported by rail. Total annual shipments of these materials are expected to increase from the current 15 to 25 shipments per year to between 400 to 600 shipments per year within the next decade. Taking a proactive approach to railroad safety, FRA recognized the need to enhance its high-level radioactive materials rail transportation inspection policy to ensure that the railroad industry's unblemished safety record for nuclear material shipments will continue unabated, despite a sharp increase in the number of high-level nuclear waste shipments. To this end, FRA developed the Safety Compliance Oversight Plan For Transportation of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel. The Safety Compliance Oversight Plan (SCOP) sets forth FRA's policy to address the safety of rail shipments of SNF and HLRW.