NRC outlines proposal to test nuke waste casks

Suzannne Struglinski

Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 | 9:42 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The government could test nuclear waste containers destined for Yucca Mountain by running a train into one and then engulfing it in fire.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff sent a proposal to the three commissioners on July 27, outlining a latest plan to test nuclear-waste containers, known as casks, that could transport nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

State officials, who are still evaluating the proposed plan, say the tests will do nothing to help understand the casks.

In May the commissioners asked their staff for a plan on how to test shipping containers using real scenarios. The commission now usually relies on computer models for safety tests required for a cask to get approval for use.

The staff has proposed colliding a locomotive with a rail cask attached to a rail car, then the cask would be placed in "a fully engulfing fire" for 30 minutes.

"The staff notes that the probability of occurrence of a real-world accident with a spent nuclear fuel cask similar to the proposed demonstration test scenario is small," according to a staff memo.

Bob Halstead, Nevada's transportation consultant, said the proposal does not satisfy what the state and the public have requested of the commission.

"This is not a test, really it's a demonstration," Halstead said. "This isn't going to provide the data needed to benchmark the computer models. This is the kind of thing that looks good in a film."

Halstead also pointed to the absence of truck cask testing. Truck casks are different than rail casks and would need their own tests, he said. It is much more likely the waste will be moved to Nevada via truck because a new rail line may not be built in the state on time and 25 nuclear power plants will need to move their waste via truck to a rail line to get it to Nevada.

Commission spokeswoman Sue Gagner said it is not known exactly when the commissioners will each vote on the proposal. Their votes will not be cast at a meeting, but instead are "notation votes," which means each commissioner will write how they voted and why.

It is also unclear how much a test would cost and how much money the Energy Department would give to the commission to conduct the test.