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

6.71
Transportation. Transportation studies include four subdivisions:
* Land transport with investigations directed to transporting HLW and/or spent fuel from
an originating plant to the port facility by rail, road, or barge.
* The port facility, including a receiving structure.
* The staging area, to include cooling facilities for holding waste packages until they
could be loaded.
* Sea transport with studies including design of special transport/emplacement vessels and
of travel routes designed to minimize interaction with shipping lanes and all other forms
of maritime activity. It is likely that this would be a self-powered ship, but it could
be a vessel that could be towed, possibly under water. Transportation technology is in
early planning stages, pending determination of disposal feasibility.
Emplacement and Monitoring. The study of emplacement and monitoring focuses on the time
period that begins when waste packages would be removed from their cooling area on the trans-
port vessel and continues through burial deep in the subocean sediments and closure of the
entrance hole, either naturally or artificially. An intrinsic part of the process would be
the monitoring function. Monitoring would include surveying precise disposal locations, guid-
ing emplacement mechanisms into those locations, and tracking the integrity, attitude, and
stability of waste containers for as long as would be required after emplacement.
Social/Political Studies. Even if technological and environmental feasibility for the
subseabed disposal concept were established, domestic and international institutions would
ultimately determine whether the concept could be used. There are no laws or agreements at
this time that specifically prohibit or allow subseabed disposal. Issues important to this
area are further discussed in Section 6.1.4.4 under International and Domestic Legal and
Institutional Considerations. International agreements and structures would enhance the
implementation of the concept. Evaluation of the current political and legal postures of all
countries that might be involved in subseabed disposal is under way. The existence of an
international NEA/OECD Seabed Working Group is indicative of the international interest in
the concept.
Risk/Safety Analyses. As data become available, risk and safety analyses would be com-
pleted on all aspects of the SDP.
Security and Safeguards. Except in the most general terms, studies in these areas would
have to await data acquisition and assessment.
R&D Costs/Implementation Time
Research and development is assumed to end when the technology had been translated into
routine practice at the first facility. Follow-on R&D in support of facility operation is
considered in a different category.
To date, almost all resource expenditures have been focused on the technical and envi-
ronmental feasibility of the subseabed geologic concept, rather than on specific on-site stu-
dies or demonstrations of current engineering practice. The estimated total R&D costs are
$250 million (DOE, 1979).