Rail Transport of Commercial Spent Fuel in the United States

Abstract

General Electric is currently about midway in the first major program in the United States for rail transport of commercial spent fuel from nuclear power plants to a licensed receiving and storage facility. The results to date have successfully demonstrated the safety and efficiency of shipping spent fuel by rail. The experience gained in the planning and implementation of the shipping campaigns can serve as a full-scale pilot for later transportation of all the nation's inventory of spent fuel by the U.S. Department of Energy to federal repositories starting in the mid to late 1990's.