Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee News

Happy November to one and all. In what is sure to be the biggest news this month, we are less than one week from the Fall Virtual Meetings of the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC)! In all seriousness, regardless of your political affiliations, hopefully we can all take solace in the end of the nonstop political ads.

Taking place on Tuesday, November 10, and Thursday, November 12, the fall virtual meetings are your best chance all year to learn about, and share your experiences with, radioactive material shipments in the Midwest. This year's program will include a regional roundtable discussion, updates from three U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offices, a presentation on the Vermont Yankee decommissioning and shipment project, and a briefing on the June railcar fire that occurred in Bedford Park, IL. You can find the meeting registration, preliminary agenda, and preliminary attendance on the MRMTC webpage.

Furthermore, a Midwest representative to the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF) Planning Committee will be chosen. This position allows you to provide input into the planning of the Annual Meeting of the NTSF, NTSF webinars, and the general direction of the forum. Finally, a new Co-Chair of the MRMTC will be chosen. If you are interested in either position, please let Lisa Janairo know before next week's meetings. If you would like to attend one or both meetings, please register as soon as possible.

In other committee news, the writing of the "Transportation Institutional Issues Involving the U.S. Department of Energy's Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program: The Post Yucca Mountain Years," is finally finished. The document is currently in the design phase and will be made available to all interested parties later this month. This 10th anniversary update to the original archive adds several sections that cover relevant topics since 2010. Some of the new topics include the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, consent-based siting, tribal engagement, shutdown site visits, and industry interests. Much like the first publication, the purpose of this update is to make it easier for new personnel to learn about what came before them in the hope that this knowledge gives them a greater chance of success. This institutional knowledge transfer is more important than ever as many people have retired, taken new jobs, or, unfortunately, passed away.

Finally, special thanks to Angela Leek of Iowa and Michael Snee of Ohio! They will be taking the lead of submitting the MRMTC's comments on the new DOE Order 460.2B Revision. More information on this order revision can be found in the NTSF section below.

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION STAKEHOLDERS FORUM

Speaking of the DOE Order 460.2B revision, the NTSF hosted a webinar on this very topic a couple of weeks ago. On October 21, Director of the DOE Office of Packing and Transportation (OPT) and NTSF Chair Julia Shenk presented an overview of the revised "Departmental Materials Transportation and Packaging Management" order and highlighted key changes that may be of interest to state and tribal partners. There was also a Q&A portion with Julia and other DOE subject-matter experts. If you are interested in watching a recording of this webinar, you can do so here. If you are a member of the MRMTC and would like to receive a copy of the new DOE Order 460.2B, please contact Lisa Janairo. Furthermore, if you want to submit comments on the revision, please send them to Lisa by November 10.

In other NTSF news, the Spent Nuclear Fuel Rail/Routing Ad Hoc Working Group (SNF R/R AHWG) held a virtual meeting on November 2. During this meeting, Jeff Moore of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) provided a brief update on the rewrite of the "Safety Compliance Oversight Plan (SCOP)" and Steve Maheras of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) provided a brief update on DOE's draft "Railcar Safety Inspection Protocol," which is meant to increase inspection reciprocity between the FRA, states, and rail carriers. However, the majority of the meeting's time was dedicated to a wonderful presentation by our own Kelly Horn. Kelly discussed the June 4 railcar fire in Bedford Park, IL, which was also a Focus This Month feature in September. After discussing the incident, the mitigation efforts, and the aftermath, Kelly praised the NTSF and other interstate and interagency organizations that made coordination between the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), and the FRA so successful. If you missed Kelly's presentation on the R/R AHWG call, fear not! He will be giving a similar presentation during the MRMTC Meeting on November 12.

FOCUS THIS MONTH

New SNF Inventory Report by DOE-IWM

Top 10 states with commercial SNF (photo courtesy of DOE-IWM)

While committee members and other state employees continue to prepare for the safe and secure transportation of SNF, it is always good to check in on the estimated inventory of SNF at commercial light-water reactor (LWR) sites that will have to be eventually shipped. This is especially true whenever DOE's Office of Integrated Waste Management (IWM) releases a new revision of its "Spent Nuclear Fuel and Reprocessing Waste Inventory."

This seventh revision updates information on commercial SNF and HLW inventory estimates as of the end of 2019. With 24 of the country's 79 commercial SNF storage sites, the 12 Midwestern states represented by the MRMTC have roughly 22,061 metric tons of uranium (MTU), or 26%, of the nation's estimated SNF and HLW inventory. This is the second highest percentage of the four regions. The South has the most with 34,326 MTU or 41%. The Northeast and the West are third and fourth with 20,547 MTU (24%) and 7,418 MTU (9%) respectively.

When broken down by state, Illinois has the highest inventory in the country, with 10,892 MTU. Michigan is the only other Midwestern state in the top 10, coming in at nine with 3,332 MTU. The top five are rounded out by Pennsylvania (7,741 MTU), South Carolina (5,067 MTU), North Carolina (4,369 MTU), and New York (4,366).

The inventory report also provided a forecast of each state's inventory by the end of 2075. Assuming that no consolidated interim storage facilities (CISF) or permanent repository are established by then, and that no inter-state transfers take place, the Midwest is projected to have 34,423 MTU by the end of 2075.

With many reactors shutting down early in the Midwest and Northeast and only the South building more reactors, it seems likely that the South's proportion of the nation's SNF will continue to increase.

Additionally, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has also recently released a publication that could be of interest. The "2020-2021 Information Digest" provides a great overview of agency and licensee activities in a wide array of areas. Some sections that may be of interest include the "Radioactive Waste" section, which covers low-level radioactive waste disposal, HLW management, transportation, and decommissioning. There are also several interesting appendices including "Appendix T: Native American Reservations and Trust Lands within a 50-Mile Radius of an Operating Nuclear Power Plant."

Thank you to Erica Bickford for sharing the inventory report and Steve Maheras for sharing the NRC information digest!

NUCLEAR NEWS

A German Restart

Bad news: Germany must start over in its search for a consolidated SNF storage facility. Good news: 90 areas covering 54% of the country have already been identified as geologically suited for such a site. Germany's federal radioactive waste disposal company, Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagurung (BGE), recently released a report saying as much. After the Fukushima disaster, Germany vowed to phase out its nuclear power plants by 2022. When all is said and done, about 1,900 SNF casks will need to find a new home.

Since the 1970s, a former salt mine near Gorleben, in the north central region of Germany, had been slated to store the waste. However, it has long been the target of a strong anti-nuclear campaign. Furthermore, BGE recently found that the original site was geologically unsuitable due to a high risk of erosion. Officials hope to have a final decision for a new site made by 2031, with operations starting by 2050.

ABC News has more.

Columbus and Cincinnati Step In Where the Ohio State Legislature Will Not


Perry Nuclear Power plant in northeast Ohio, one of two plants set to receive a $1 billion bailout

On October 27, the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court arguing that the energy rate increase imposed on Ohioans because of House Bill 6 amounts to an unconstitutional tax. Passed in July 2019, HB 6 would provide a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Corp. This bailout would be paid by new fees on Ohioans' electric bills. However, in the last several months, a federal investigation revealed that FirstEnergy paid former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his associates $61 million to pass the bill and defend it from repeal.

Shortly after this revelation, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called on the legislature to repeal HB 6. The legislature has yet to do so. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is also pursuing a lawsuit that would prevent the subsidies from going to the plants. Columbus and Cincinnati's lawsuits on the other hand, seek to prevent the collecting of fees in the first place.

Speaking of Larry Householder, the disgraced former speaker won reelection this week. Stripped of his leadership role and charged with bribery, Rep. Householder has pleaded not guilty, maintained his innocence, and retained his seat.

Cleveland.com and NBC 4 have more coverage of the lawsuit and Rep. Householder's reelection.

Atlas Railcar Update

DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) has released a new fact sheet on the Atlas Railcar, which is being designed to eventually carry 17 different SNF containers/casks weighing up to 210 tons. Rail shipments of SNF using the Atlas design - compliant with the railroad industry's S-2043 standard - will have two locomotives moving the train, two buffer cars separating the crew from the SNF casks, one to seven cars actually carrying the SNF casks, and one escort car carrying personnel and surveillance and monitoring equipment. Testing and meeting safety standards is expected to finish in 2023. The full fact sheet has more information on the railcar design process, safety standards and testing, and transportation SNF by rail.

Thank you to Erica Bickford for sharing!

Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out on

December 3, 2020.

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Please do not reproduce or create new content from this material without the prior express written permission of CSG Midwest.

This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Numbers DE-NE0008604, DE-EM0004869, and DE-EM0005168.

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