Rail Transportation Casks

1. Rail Transportation Casks

2. Testing of Transportation Casks • To be certified, transportation casks must demonstrate that they must remain airtight following • A 30-foot drop onto an unyielding surface • A 40-inch drop onto a 6-inch diameter steel rod • Exposure to a 1000 ºC fire for 30 minutes • Immersion in 3 feet of water • Additional, more severe, testing has been done • Crash of a flatbed truck loaded with a cask into a 700-ton concrete wall at 80 mph • Broadside crash of a 120-ton locomotive traveling at 80 mph • Crash of a locomotive at 100 mph (U.K.) • Drop onto hard soil (similar to concrete) from a height of 2,000 feet • Fire and explosion involving fuel tanks (Germany)

3. Fire and Explosion Testing

4. Repository Design Concept

5. Yucca Mountain Surface Facility Portals South Portal North Portal

6. Surface (Preclosure) Facility Design • Surface facility design provides maximum flexibility in the development of a simple, clean, safe, primarily canister-based repository • Based on the use of modular waste handling facilities and processes – expansion as needed • Incorporates commercial waste handling experience • Can receive by truck and standard rail • Can handle multiple forms of wastes • Can accommodate multiple sizes of transportation, aging and disposal (TAD) canisters • TAD canisters containing the spent fuel are loaded into the transportation casks • TAD canisters would require less handling than individual spent nuclear fuel assemblies at the repository

7. Aboveground Preclosure Facilities

8. Preparing Waste for Emplacement • Cask enters the facility, impact limiters and lid are removed, and the cask is raised upright by crane • Cask loaded onto a cask transfer trolley and moved to the shielded transfer cell • Another crane lifts the TAD canister out and raises it into a shielded bell • Shielded bell moves to the canister to another transfer cell • Canister is lowered by crane into the waste package • Waste package is what the canister is stored in when emplaced in the mountain • Waste package is transferred to the Transport and Emplacement Vehicle (TEV)

9. Transfer of Canister to Waste Package casktransfer.wmv

10. Transfer of the Waste Package to the TEV WPtransfertoTEV.wmv

11. Emplacement Operations • TEV moves waste package from the surface facility into the mountain • Emplacement tunnel is selected beforehand to limit the total decay heat generated in the tunnel • Tunnel decay heat loading is tracked continuously • TEV deposits the waste package once it has arrived at its final destination • TEV returns to the surface

12. Emplacement Operations

13. Safety of Preclosure Operations • Preclosure operations include all preparation and emplacement activities • Expected to last 50 years (until all tunnels are filled) • Safety features • Robust construction (3 to 4-foot thick reinforced concrete walls) can withstand the most severe postulated earthquake • Filtered ventilation system to prevent release to environment in the event of an accident • Automatic fire suppression system • Remote operations to limit need for human action • Extensive shielding provided when human involvement is anticipated • Safety analyses show that potential public and worker radiation exposure from preclosure operations is well below NRC safety limits

14. Postclosure • Postclosure begins when the repository has been fully loaded and sealed for long-term storage • Storage is in 42-miles of 18-foot diameter tunnels • Parallel tunnels located 250 feet apart • Tunnels are 1,000 feet below the surface and 1,000 feet above the water table • Natural and manmade features ensure safety and environmental protection during storage

15. Underground Storage of Waste

16. Natural and Manmade Safety Features

17. Total System Performance Assessment • TSPA is a computer tool that analyzes performance of the repository following closure • Includes computer models for all phenomena that could lead to a release of radionuclides • Based on accepted chemical and physical principles • Benchmarked against data collected during site assessment • TSPA is used to evaluate repository performance over hundreds of thousands of years • Because the period of interest is so long, extremely rare events must be analyzed • Severe earthquakes, volcanic activity, meteor strikes, etc. • TSPA results show human exposures or ground water contamination at least a factor of 10 smaller than safety standards

18. Concept for a Warning Monument and Information Center

19. Status and Future of the Project • License application for the Yucca Mountain repository submitted to the NRC on June 2nd • NRC has 3 years to complete their evaluation and decide whether to issue a construction permit • Government funding levels will be an important factor in determining when the repository opens • Most optimistic estimate is 2017 for receipt of first waste • Politics will play a key role

20. Politics of the Yucca Mountain Project • NIMBY – Not in my backyard • States with stored nuclear waste want it disposed of • Nevada objects to being the nuclear “dump” • Some have concerns over waste transport • People are reluctant to believe the government regardless of the scientific support • Politicians tend to play on these emotions • Nowhere is this more evident than in Nevada • A “battleground” state

21. Cartoons Illustrating Political and Legal Obstacles

22. Cartoons Illustrating Safety Concerns • Cartoonists play on emotions • No need to be scientifically accurate • Probably very effective with the average person

23. Where do the candidates stand? • Obama expressed his opinion in a letter to Senators Reid and Boxer • Nuclear power remains an important source of energy • Objected to Congress abandoning scientific consideration of alternatives and selecting Yucca Mountain • Indicated that Yucca Mountain is not a good choice • Nevadans oppose Yucca Mountain • Won’t be operated for at least 10 more years • Uncertain safety of transport and long-term storage • Time to abandon Yucca Mountain and pursue alternatives • Selection based on sound science and respect for state’s sovereignty

24. Where do the candidates stand? • McCain’s opinion has been expressed in interviews over the years • Nuclear power is an important source of energy for our future and more reactors are needed • Supports Yucca Mountain as the best alternative for long-term storage • Yucca Mountain should be built if it meets all Federal requirements for protecting human health and the environment • Not a problem of technology but political will

25. Questions?