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Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 68 / Thursday, April 8, 2004 / Notices
about three potential traffic fatalities during the 24-year period of shipping spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the repository at Yucca Mountain. The Final EIS also considers the potential health effects that could result from radiation exposure to workers during shipping and from cask loading and unloading, and to the general population along the transportation routes to the repository. Under the mostly legal-weight truck scenario, the Final EIS indicates that about 12 worker and three general public latent cancer fatalities could occur from routine (incident-free) exposures during the 24- year period of shipping spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the repository. Under the mostly rail scenario, about three worker and one general public latent cancer fatalities could occur during the 24-year period. The radiation dose to any one individual would be extremely small. DOE also estimated the potential health effects to the general public that could result from a severe transportation accident during shipments to the repository (referred to in the Final EIS as a maximum reasonably foreseeable accident). The probability that this accident could occur is extremely unlikely—about three chances in 10 million per year. If such an accident were to occur in an urban population setting, less than one latent cancer fatality could be expected under the mostly legal-weight truck scenario, whereas about five latent cancer fatalities could be expected under the mostly rail scenario, primarily because of the greater amounts of radioactive materials that could be released from a rail cask in such an accident. In Nevada, construction of a rail line, regardless of the rail corridor selected, would involve the disturbance of land (and associated impacts, although low, to natural resources such as biological and cultural resources) in amounts greater than those associated with any heavy-haul truck alternative. For example, construction of a rail line in disturbance of about 1,240 acres; rail line construction in the longest corridor (Carlin) would disturb about 4,900 acres. Construction of an intermodal transfer station and the upgrade of the longest heavy-haul route would result in the disturbance of about 1,000 acres. Furthermore, the construction of any rail line would involve various land use conflicts that, for the most part, would not occur with the limited construction required to improve any of the heavy- haul truck routes. No land disturbances the shortest rail corridor (Valley Modified) would result in the
and enable year-round shipments to the repository. Under this scenario, radioactive materials from certain commercial nuclear sites that do not have the capability to load rail-shipping casks would be shipped by legal-weight truck directly to the repository. Under this alternative, about 9,000 to 10,000 train shipments (assuming one cask per train) of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste would travel on the nation’s rail network to Nevada over the 24-year period. There also would be about 9,000 to 10,000 heavy-haul truck shipments in Nevada from the intermodal transfer station to the repository. In addition, there would be about 1,000 legal-weight truck shipments from commercial sites that do not have the capability to load rail- shipping casks to the repository at Yucca Mountain. Mostly Legal-Weight Truck to the Yucca Mountain Repository Under the mostly legal-weight truck scenario, as analyzed in the Final EIS, DOE would ship most spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from the 77 sites to the repository by legal- weight truck. About 53,000 legal-weight trucks carrying these materials would travel primarily on the nation’s interstate highway system during the 24-year period. About 300 shipments of naval spent nuclear fuel would travel from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to Nevada by rail, where the rail casks would be transferred to heavy-haul trucks for shipment to the repository. Environmentally Preferable Transportation Mode Alternative In making this determination, DOE considered human health and environmental impacts that could occur from shipping spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from the 77 sites to the repository at Yucca Mountain. DOE also considered the human health and environmental impacts that could occur from the construction of a rail line and from any upgrades to existing highways (the heavy-haul truck routes) in Nevada. The Final EIS indicates that some potential non-radiological fatalities could occur as a result of traffic accidents during the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the repository at Yucca Mountain. The Final EIS indicates that the highest number of potential traffic fatalities (about five) could occur under the mostly legal- weight truck scenario, whereas the mostly rail scenario could result in
3 The final EIS stated that DOE anticipated as many as 5 casks per train. However, DOE conservatively estimated 1 cask per train for analytical purposes to ensure that it considered routine and accident transportation risks that could result from a larger number of train shipments (9,000 to 10,000). construct an intermodal transfer station at one of three locations analyzed in the Final EIS. One of the five heavy-haul routes analyzed in the Final EIS would be upgraded to improve transportation operations, reduce traffic congestion, Mostly Rail to the Yucca Mountain Repository—Preferred Mode of Transportation Under the preferred mode of transportation as analyzed in the Final EIS (the mostly rail scenario), DOE would ship most of the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from the 77 sites to the Yucca Mountain Repository by rail. DOE would construct a rail line in one of five rail corridors considered in the Final EIS to connect the repository at Yucca Mountain to an existing main rail line in Nevada. Under the mostly rail scenario analyzed in the Final EIS, radioactive materials from certain commercial nuclear sites that do not have the capability to load rail-shipping casks would be shipped by legal-weight truck to the repository. For other commercial sites that have the capability to load rail shipping casks, but do not have rail access, materials would be shipped either by heavy-haul truck or possibly barge to a nearby railhead outside Nevada for shipment by rail to the repository at Yucca Mountain. Under the mostly rail alternative, about 9,000 to 10,000 train shipments (assuming one cask per train 3 ) of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste would travel on the nation’s rail network over the anticipated 24–year period (DOE’s current plan calls for three casks per train shipment, about 3,000 to 3,300 total shipments). In addition, there would be about 1,000 legal-weight truck shipments from commercial sites that do not have the capability to load rail-shipping casks to the repository at Yucca Mountain. Mostly Rail to Nevada With Transfer to Heavy-Haul Truck for Shipment to the Repository Under this scenario as analyzed in the Final EIS, DOE would ship most spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from the 77 sites to Nevada by rail. Rail shipments would terminate in Nevada at an intermodal transfer station where shipping casks would be transferred from rail cars to heavy-haul trucks for shipment to the Yucca Mountain Repository. DOE would
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