What do we transport?
We transport the used fuel. There is no question that it can crack and something that flows out and pollutes the environment. There is nothing that can ”float”. Remember that the used fuel is not a liquid mass. It’s a solid lump of metal. They are packed well in solid containers.
It is also not explosive. The once-dull waste can be recycled into new energy.
Solid transport containers
The used fuel is transported in specially designed solid containers. As shown in Figure 1.
These containers are designed and tested to withstand all accidents, such as impact, impact, water immersion, fire, etc. [1].
- They are tested by letting a train crash into them without anything happening to the container. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mHtOW-OBO4
- A truck loaded with the container has been sent at full speed into a concrete wall without anything happening to the container. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu1YFshFuI4
- See many more trials here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmp3_CLx4VY
Radiation
Some would think an accident is unnecessary, but the transport alone exposes the public to high radiation levels. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Of course, it is impossible to block all radiation. The transport containers are designed to limit the radiation level [2].
The amount of radiation a transport container emits is much lower than the natural background radiation we are all exposed to [3].
Security data
Radioactive materials make up a significantly small part of the dangerous material transported worldwide each year. This happens both on roads, railways, and at sea.
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that over 44,000 shipments of spent nuclear fuel/waste have occurred worldwide since the early 1960s, none of which have involved any harmful release of radioactive material with injury or death [4].
The transport of nuclear waste thus has an outstanding safety record.
The most serious accident occurred in 1971 when a driver transporting nuclear waste swerved off a highway in Tennessee to avoid a crash and dropped a container of spent nuclear fuel [5].
The result?
Nothing. The transport container remained intact, and no radiation was released. They are built so solidly, as we saw before from the tests.
Activists
We see that the most extensive safety problem with waste transport is activists who block the vehicle during protests about “safety problems.”
On the other hand, the problems the activists demonstrate are not real.
For 35 years, the US Congress has repeatedly failed to move nuclear waste containers due to public skepticism and activist harassment, wasting $15 billion on it [6].
The consequences of not being able to transport the waste to recycling or a final landfill are estimated to solve this non-problem; according to the NRC, it would cost an astonishing $65 billion [7]. That amount does not include the additional half billion more to operate the plant annually or the quarter billion more for monitoring after filling it with spent fuel.
In contrast, each container costs only $500,000 to $1 million—a pittance for a facility that needs a few dozen at most [8]
Comparison with other transports
How does it look if we compare fossil energy transport and extraction? Have there been any major environmental and health-related accidents as a result?
Yes, to that extent. June 2016: A train carrying crude oil derailed at Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge, spilling 42,000 gallons of crude oil and sparking a large fire [9]. The list is long with oil tankers [10].
We all probably remember these accidents or similar ones throughout our lives, which should make us ask ourselves if we care about the right thing.
Take Away Points
- The containers are designed and tested to withstand all accidents, such as impact, impact, water immersion, fire, etc.
- Over 44,000 shipments of spent nuclear fuel have occurred worldwide since the beginning of the 1960s. Without any harmful release of radioactive material with personal injury or death.
- The most significant waste transport problems are activists who block.
Sources:
- https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/transport-spenfuel-radiomats-bg.html
- https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/transport-spenfuel-radiomats-bg.html#studies
- https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radiation-sources-and-doses
- https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/03/f34/Enhanced%20safety%20record%20report%20-%20final%20public%20release_0.pdf
- Side 19. https://www.nwmo.ca/~/media/Site/Files/PDFs/2015/11/09/12/54/665_6-8ReviewoftheFundamentalIssuesandKeyConsiderationsRelatedtotheTransportationofSpentNuclearFuel.ashx?la=en
- https://www.hcn.org/articles/is-yucca-mountain-back-from-the-dead?fbclid=IwAR2GRT_IDlRC-XqB0fHkjekbhvIX5ATmFI42r6LGVpxFuVBfNvLCXqjfef8
- https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0927/ML092710177.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0ev_94y3rjH2CtCrv6f-tmCGbbe_FhLiVidHRCd7Ww0Sg5wedAossBfsA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E4iEDoI2Dk
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/03/oregon-oil-train-derails-columbia-river-gorge
- https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/htm/baggrund/tema2001/Galapagos-oeerne%20true%20af%20olieudslip/83.htm
