Shutdown Sites As reported in the 2010 archive, in 2008, the FRA had begun to evaluate the near-site infrastructure at shutdown nuclear plants, starting with three sites in the Northeast region. This project ceased in 2009 with the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain project. DOE’s NFST Planning Project brought this work to the Midwest starting in 2013 with visits to shutdown sites including Zion in Illinois, La Crosse inWisconsin, and Big Rock Point in Michigan. In addition to examining near-site infrastructure, the study teams also updated their information on site capabilities and past experiences shipping heavy loads. In 2019, having completed the assessment of nearly all shutdown sites, DOE-NE expanded the scope of the project to include operating power plants. The resulting body of work may be the most significant accomplishment of the DOE-NE program, with long-lasting value for preparing to ship SNF from the sites of shutdown and operating reactors. Following the issuance of DOE’s “Strategy” in 2013, the department embarked on an analysis of removing SNF from the country’s shutdown nuclear power plants. (See the articles on Mix of Transportation Modes and Transportation Infrastructure Improvements in the original archive for a discussion of earlier efforts to evaluate infrastructure and assess capabilities.) This analysis included a detailed evaluation of the transportation
infrastructure onsite and adjacent to the nation’s shutdown nuclear sites. To carry out this analysis, DOE-NE staff and the FRA conducted site visits and examined transportation-related infrastructure at the shutdown sites for the purpose of evaluating transportation mode options for shipping SNF (Maheras et al. 2017). Representatives of the states, Tribes, and SRGs were added to the teams shortly after this work resumed. Tribal participants were specifically interested in historical tribal land within a 100-mile radius of the plant and how shipments might impact that land. DOE-NE’s Preliminary Evaluation of Removing Used Nuclear Fuel from Shutdown Sites defines shutdown sites as “those commercial nuclear power reactor sites where the nuclear power reactors have been shut down and the site has been decommissioned or is undergoing decommissioning” (ibid., p. 37). The shutdown sites visited for the purpose of evaluating SNF removal no longer have any operating nuclear power reactors. Prior to 2020, sites that included both shutdown reactors and operating reactors were not included in this evaluation; however, the La Crosse site inWisconsin does have an operating coal-fired plant. In addition, the shutdown sites included in DOE’s analysis have notified the NRC that the reactors have ceased power generation permanently and the nuclear fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessels (ibid.). The 14 sites included in the most recent preliminary evaluation are Maine Yankee, Yankee Rowe, Connecticut Yankee, Humboldt Bay, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Trojan, La Crosse, Zion, Crystal River, Kewaunee, San Onofre, Vermont Yankee, and Fort Calhoun. Table 1 shows the plants and the possible shipping mode(s).
Table 1
Site
Host State
Primary Mode
Secondary Mode
Maine Yankee
Maine
Direct Rail
Barge to Rail
Yankee Rowe
Massachusetts
Heavy haul truck to rail
—
Connecticut Yankee
Connecticut
Barge to Rail
Heavy haul truck to rail
Humboldt Bay
California
Heavy haul truck to rail
Heavy haul truck to barge to rail
Big Rock Point
Michigan
Heavy haul truck to rail
Barge to Rail
Rancho Seco
California
Direct Rail
—
Trojan
Oregon
Direct Rail
Barge to Rail
La Crosse
Wisconsin
Direct Rail
Barge to Rail
Zion
Illinois
Direct Rail
Barge to Rail
Crystal River
Florida
Direct Rail
Barge to Rail
Kewaunee
Wisconsin
Heavy haul truck to rail
Heavy haul truck to barge to rail
San Onofre
California
Direct Rail
Heavy haul truck to barge to rail
Vermont Yankee
Vermont
Direct Rail
—
Fort Calhoun
Nebraska
Direct Rail
Barge to Rail
41
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