Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

Socioeconomic Impacts
6.75
Because a major land repository would not be required under this option, the most
important socioeconomic impacts would be attributable to transportation activities.
Transportation activities fall into three categories: (1) transportation of wastes on land
to the port where the wastes would be transferred to the ship, (2) waste-handling
activities at the port facility, and (3) ocean transportation from the port facility to the
point where the material would be deposited in the seabed sediment.
Socioeconomic impacts would be concentrated at the point where support activities were
most intense: at the port facility. The nature of the activity has led certain reviewers
to conclude that one of the most significant factors associated with this disposal option
would be difficulty in finding a suitable dedicated (Bechtel 1979a). Moreover, they
project moderate community impacts and suggest that local socioeconomic impacts could reach
significant levels.
Detailed projections of the impact of implementing this disposal option on the public
and private sectors could be made only on site-specific basis. Nevertheless, impacts would
be expected in the coastal area near the port facility. The total anticipated increase in
employment for a 5000 MTHM per year disposal system, although quite concentrated, is
expected to be less than 2000 people.
Aesthetic Impacts
The significance of aesthetic impacts would depend on the appearance and operating
parameters of a facility, as well as on the extent to which it would be perceived by
humans. For the subseabed disposal option, much of the waste-handling and trasportation
activities would occur in remote areas of the ocean. Consequently, the aesthetic impacts,
regardless of their nature, would not be significant.
Aesthetic impacts near the port facility, however, could be locally significant. Such
impacts could be accurately determined only on a site-specific basis. However, it is
important to recognize that the required port facilities for a nuclear waste handling
facility would be substantial.
Resource Consumption
Use of energy and construction of seaport facilities and seagoing vessels would be the
primary resource consuming activities in this option. Energy would be consumed during land
transportation, loading, and sea transportation activities. A quantitative estimate of
energy consumption is provided in Table 6.1.13.
The seaports would have facilities for receiving railway casks containing the waste
canisters and for placing them in interim storage. Interim storage pools should be able to
handle one-half of the anticipated yearly volume of wastes (2500 MTHM) and are expected to