Transporting radioactive materials to a geological disposal facility: An integrated approach

The Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD) of the UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDAi) has responsibility for planning and implementing a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in the UK. The responsibility for demonstrating and providing a safe transport operation will be shared between a number of organisations acting as consignors, carriers and the consignee (the GDF operator). The radioactive waste transport system is national in scope. Its main objective is to deliver packaged waste to a facility for disposal in a manner that is safe, secure, planned, timely, cost effective, flexible, environmentally sound and robust against future changes. To fully appreciate the implications for ensuring transport safety a better understanding of the range of options for a GDF transport system is required. One extreme, the current planning assumption in the UK is that each waste producer (consignor) is individually responsible for organising their own transport to a GDF. The other extreme is where a single organisation is responsible for the provision of the transport system (an integrated transport service). Intermediate options will exist where the actual implementation could be anywhere on the scale between the two extremes. A fundamental issue for a GDF transport system for the delivery of Intermediate Level Waste (ILW), High Level Waste (HLW) and spent fuel is the timescale between initial waste packing and final sentencing to the repository. ILW, HLW and spent fuel will need to be managed until a GDF is available and delivery is confirmed. The timescales could be over 65 years given current assumptions. This paper reviews the feasibility of an integrated transport service for the delivery of ILW, HLW and spent fuel to a GDF. It defines the key elements of the integrated transport service, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages. Finally, it sets out the key considerations to be addressed during packing of wastes which will not be transported for up to 65 years. © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2014.