Cask fleet operations study

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 assigned to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Waste Management the responsibility for disposing of high-level waste and spent fuel. A significant part of that responsibility involves transporting nuclear waste materials within the federal waste management system; that is, from the waste generator to the repository. The lead responsibility for transportation operations has been assigned to Oak Ridge Operations, with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) providing technical support through the Transportation Operations Support Task Group. One of the ORNL support activities involves assessing what facilities, equipment and services are required to assure that an acceptable, cost-effective and safe transportation operations system can be designed, operated and maintained. This study reviews, surveys and assesses the experience of Nuclear Assurance Corporation (NAC) in operating a fleet of spent-fuel shipping casks to aid in developing the spent-fuel transportation system