March 2022 | The Council of State Governments | Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee
Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee Newsletter
Upcoming Events
*All times are Central Time
March 3:
March 4:
March 6 - 10:
March 8 - 10:
March 29 - 31:
April 19:
Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) Regional Tribal Engagement Work Group Quarterly Meeting - 10 AM*
May 3 - 5:
May 16 - 19:
June 6 - 7:
June 6 - 9:
June 7:
MRMTC Spring 2022 Meeting - Philadelphia, PA
June 8 - 9:
2022 RadWaste Summit - Las Vegas, NV
June 27 - July 8:
November 13 - 17:
International High Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (Part of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting) - Phoenix, AZ
Committee Happenings
Happy March from the Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (MRMTC) and here's hoping the region experiences an early Spring! During the month of February, the committee's main activities revolved around the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy's (DOE-NE) Request for Information (RFI) on Using a Consent-Based Siting Process To Identify Federal Interim Storage Facilities.

During the MRMTC Fall 2021 Meeting, an ad hoc working group (AHWG) was formed to develop the committee's response to DOE-NE's RFI. Made up of MRMTC Co-Chairs Mike Snee (Ohio) and Rodney Pitchford (Illinois), and past Co-Chair Kelly Horn (Illinois), the Consent-Based Siting RFI AHWG met on February 10 and 25. The AHWG created a response that encourages DOE to continue funding and participating in state regional groups (SRGs) like the MRMTC, tribal groups like the Tribal Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee (TRMTC), and national organizations like the National Transportation Stakeholders Forum (NTSF). Furthermore, the response stresses the importance of consultation and communication with state governments, which are co-regulators of radioactive materials shipments. Committee members should have received an email last week from Mitch Arvidson with the final draft of the committee's response. Committee members are encouraged to review this response and provide any suggestions or edits they may have to Mitch Arvidson by the end of today. He will submit the final response before the submission deadline of tomorrow, March 4.

In other committee news, there will soon be a digital library of old training, exercise, and demonstration videos on the committee's webpage. Over the last several years, there has been a great deal of discussion about knowledge management in the radioactive materials transportation world. As experts in the field retire or move on to other fields, it is important that their knowledge is retained and available for the next generation. Beyond the knowledge of individuals, there is also a great deal of information stored in formats that are no longer widely used. The CSG Midwest office has built up a rather large library of VHSes, DVDs, and CDs dating all the way back to at least 1990. Soon, the information and knowledge in these old formats will be available to you with a few clicks of your mouse. Keep an eye out for an announcement when the digital library is launched.
National Transportation Stakeholders Forum
The NTSF Planning Committee has continued in earnest its planning for the 2022 Annual Meeting of the NTSF. The committee last met on February 10 to continue discussions leading up to the June 6 - 9 meeting. Keep an eye out for a registration announcement which should be coming out soon.

In addition to discussing the upcoming annual meeting, the Planning Committee also approved the creation (or recreation rather) of the Spent Fuel Transportation Materials AHWG. The goal of this AHWG is to help DOE effectively and accurately communicate about planned DOE spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transportation and associated SNF management activities, including federal interim storage. The AHWG will provide input to DOE-NE on developing messaging, strategies, and products to communicate effectively with Tribes, states, the general public, and other stakeholders on SNF transportation and management activities and issues. The AHWG is still getting going, but is looking for two to three state government representatives from each SRG, including the MRMTC. If you are interested in serving on the NTSF Spent Fuel Transportation Materials AHWG, please let Mitch Arvidson know.

Finally, the Midwest has begun its initial hunt for the host city of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the NTSF. A list of possible cities has been provided to the NTSF Planning Committee and a meeting location announcement can be expected in the next few months. The cities under consideration are Traverse City, MI, Wichita, KS, Detroit, MI, Columbus, OH, Kansas City, KS, and St. Louis, MO.
The last time the MRMTC hosted the Annual Meeting of the NTSF was June 2018 in Omaha, NE.
Focus This Month
Canada Releases SNF Transportation Plans
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), Canada's non-profit organization leading the country's SNF deep-geologic repository (DGR) project, has recently released two planning documents regarding the eventual transportation of SNF. "Moving forward together: Planning framework for the transportation of used nuclear fuel" sets out Canada's objectives, priorities, and considerations for transporting SNF. Meanwhile, the "Preliminary transportation plan" provides an overview of the technical approaches, regulatory requirements and planning assumptions that the NWMO will build on to ensure safe and secure transportation that protects people and the environment.

There are currently eight SNF interim storage facilities in Canada. There are one each in Manitoba, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and five in Ontario. Two sites are under consideration by NWMO to be the eventual location of the nation's DGR. They are Ignace in Northwestern Ontario and South Bruce in southeastern Ontario.

The framework document is an update to an initial August 2020 draft and is broken down into six sections: the task ahead, a shared vision, the framework, proposed approach to implementing the framework, regulatory decision-making, and next steps. Part of the framework itself is captured below:
  • Basic requirements
  • Safety as the primary consideration
  • Protecting the environment
  • Emergency response planning
  • Building respectful relations with First Nation and Métis communities
  • Objectives and principles
  • Ensuring transparency
  • A focus on evidence-informed decision-making
  • Ensuring safety
  • Meet or exceed regulatory requirements for safety and emergency response
  • Protecting the environment
  • Mitigate with the goal of eliminating impact on the environment
  • Relationship with the land
  • Develop a culture-centered approach to engagement and collaborative planning
  • Being inclusive
  • Right and responsibility to be informed and have questions and concerns addressed
  • Selecting modes and routes
  • Balance between multiple objectives without compromising safety

The transportation plan is broken down into three sections; overview of the transportation program, safety and security, and the road ahead. The NWMO is considering two transportation options for each site that is being considered: an all-road SNF transportation system; or a road/rail SNF transportation system. Once the DGR site is chosen, factors such as transportation package designs, existing infrastructure, and operational elements like scheduling and routing will be considered to choose between the all-road or road/rail combination system. The plan also says that if the South Bruce site is chosen, a road/rail transportation system is highly unlikely because there is no existing rail infrastructure at the site. Under an all-road system, the NWMO projects that conventional tractor-trailers will carry one package per truck for about 654 shipments per year. To be more specific, 576 used fuel transportation packages (UFTP) per year and 78 basket transportation packages (BTP) per year. The plan goes into much greater detail and includes projected distances traveled, time frames, package testing, route selection, etc.
Current Canadian SNF interim storage facilities and two proposed DGR facilities (Source: NWMO "Preliminary transportation plan")
Nuclear News
Midwest Legislation Aims to Boost Nukes
Several states in our region are considering legislation that could encourage the construction of new nuclear power plants, especially small modular reactors (SMRs). In Indiana, Senate Bill (SB) 271 would instruct the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to create rules for how it will consider energy utilities' SMR proposals. The bill would also instruct the commission to consider if the proposed SMR would be replacing retiring coal plants and be located at these sites. Finally, the bill would also add SMRs to the list of what the state counts as clean energy projects, adding financial incentives for utilities that would build SMRs.

(Late Breaking news, the bill has been passed by both houses of the Indiana General Assembly and awaits the governors signature.)

The Indianapolis Star and Public News Service have details on SB 271.

Meanwhile, the Nebraska Legislature is considering Legislative Bill (LB) 1100, which would appropriate federal funds to conduct a feasibility study relating to SMRs and exploring where they could be placed in the state. Supporters of the bill points toward federal funding of SMR research and the ability of reactors to run in any weather conditions as reasons to explore further nuclear power in the state.

KETV Omaha and the Lincoln Journal Star have the full story.

Even the nation's number one producer of nuclear energy is getting into the mix. Despite being number one, Illinois has an active ban on new nuclear power plant construction. House Bill (HB) 5589 would repeal this ban and remove Illinois from the list of 12 states that prohibit nuclear construction (CA, CT, HI, ME, MA, MN, NJ, NY, OR, RI, and VT).

Nuclear Newswire has more information.

Public To Way In On Sale of Right to Decommission Kewaunee Nuclear
Today, March 3, the public will have the opportunity to provide input on the proposed sale of Kewaunee Power Station from Dominion Energy to EnergySolutions for $724 million. Dominion and EnergySolutions agreed to the deal in May 2021, which the Public Service Commission (PSC) of Wisconsin must approve. Approval seemed like a given until the NorthStar company became involved. NorthStar alleged that there was no competitive process in the sale and that they could decommission Kewaunee for about $500 million, $224 million cheaper than EnergySolutions.

Despite EnergySolutions protests, the PSC of Wisconsin has shown an openness to NorthStar's arguments and has opened the debate up to the public. The public will have the ability to provide input in sessions at 2 PM and 6 PM Central Time and connection information can be found here. If EnergySolutions ends up securing the license, Kewaunee would be its fourth decommissioning project after Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island Unit 2, California's San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and Nebraska's Fort Calhoun plant.

(Most of the reporting for this story has been done by subscription only news sources. Contact Mitch Arvidson if you would like more information.)

War's Implication on Radioactive Materials and Nuclear Power
Finally, much of the world's attention is placed firmly in Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the country continues. While we all send our hopes and prayers to a quick and peaceful end to this war, many in our industry are likely concerned about Ukraine's nuclear power and radioactive materials. Ukraine has a long history with nuclear energy, some good and some obviously bad. Below are some recent news stories about Ukraine's nuclear sector and the impacts the war has had on it so far.

Russian forces took control of the Chernobyl site on February 24, 2022
(Photo by IAEA Imagebank - 02710030, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Thank you for reading. Watch for the next edition to come out on
April 7, 2022.
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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-NE0009117, DE-EM0004869, and DE-EM0005168.

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.