Title page 1
Contents 6
ABSTRACT 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 17
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 18
1. INTRODUCTION 22
1.1. Purpose for this Study 22
1.2. Background 22
1.3. Scope of this Study 24
1.4. Accident Tolerant Fuel Technologies Under Consideration in this Study 24
1.4.1. Coated Cladding 25
1.4.2. Doped Pellets 26
1.4.3. Iron-Chromium-Aluminum Cladding 27
1.4.4. Longer-Term Accident Tolerant Fuel Technologies 28
1.5. Organization of the Study 28
2. URANIUM FUEL CYCLE 29
2.1. Introduction 29
2.1.1. Uranium Fuel Cycle Environmental Data 29
2.1.2. Changes in the Uranium Fuel Cycle Since WASH-1248 31
2.2. Uranium Fuel Cycle Impacts Due to Accident Tolerant Fuel Deployment 33
2.2.1. Uranium Recovery and Conversion 33
2.2.2. Uranium Enrichment 35
2.2.3. Uranium Fuel Fabrication 36
2.2.4. Reprocessing 37
2.2.5. Storage and Disposal of Radiological Wastes 37
2.2.5.1. Evaluation of Continued Storage 39
2.3. Other Considerations 42
2.3.1. Consideration of Environmental Justice 42
2.3.2. Greenhouse Gases 43
2.4. Accident Tolerant Fuel Uranium Fuel Cycle Conclusions 44
3. TRANSPORTATION 45
3.1. Transportation Package Regulations 45
3.2. NRC Regulations for Evaluating the Environmental Impacts from Transportation of Fuel and Waste 45
3.3. Table S-4 on the Transportation of Fuel and Waste 46
3.4. Additional NRC Studies of Radioactive Material Transportation Risks 47
3.5. Transportation Impact Assessment Methodology 49
3.5.1. Code Packages for Assessing Transportation of Fuel and Waste Risks 50
3.5.1.1. NRC-RADTRAN Version 1.0 50
3.5.1.2. WebTRAGIS 51
3.5.2. Normal Transportation Conditions 52
3.5.2.1. Persons Along the Route (Off-Link Population) 54
3.5.2.2. Persons at a Stop 54
3.5.2.3. Person Sharing the Route (Onlookers or On-Link Population) 54
3.5.2.4. Crew, Handlers, and Inspectors 54
3.5.2.5. NRC-RADTRAN Modeling of Normal Conditions 55
3.5.3. Accident Conditions 55
3.5.4. Data and Information Needs 56
3.6. Transportation Scenario Development 58
3.6.1. Site and Route Selection 58
3.6.2. Package and Shipping Characteristics 59
3.6.3. Number of Annual Unirradiated and Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel Shipments 62
3.6.4. Fuel Characteristics and Radionuclide Inventory Based on Enrichment and Burnup 63
3.7. Transportation Evaluation 65
3.7.1. Shipments of Low-Level Radioactive Waste 65
3.7.2. Shipments of Unirradiated Accident Tolerant Fuel 67
3.7.2.1. Impacts of Normal Conditions 70
3.7.2.2. Accident Impacts 76
3.7.3. Sensitivity Analysis 78
3.7.3.1. Rail Shipment Sensitivity Analysis 78
3.7.3.2. Release Fractions Sensitivity Analysis 79
3.8. Accident Tolerant Fuel Transportation Conclusions 85
4. DECOMMISSIONING 88
4.1. Decommissioning Process 89
4.2. Environmental Impacts from Decommissioning with Accident Tolerant Fuel 90
4.2.1. Human Health 91
4.2.2. Waste Management and Pollution Prevention 92
4.3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions 93
4.4. Accident Tolerant Fuel Decommissioning Conclusions 94
5. CONCLUSION 95
6. REFERENCES 98
7. LIST OF PREPARERS 110
APPENDIX A. SPENT ACCIDENT TOLERANT FUEL RADIONUCLIDE INVENTORIES 111
APPENDIX B. EXAMINATION OF RADIOLOGICAL RELEASE FRACTIONS DUE TO HIGHER BURNUP LEVELS 114
APPENDIX C. SITE AND ROUTE SELECTION 125
APPENDIX D. DATA AND PARAMETER VALUES FOR TRANSPORTATION EVALUATION 129
APPENDIX E. TRANSPORTATION EVALUATION RESULTS 150
APPENDIX F. COMMENTS RECEIVED ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION OF ACCIDENT TOLERANT FUELS WITH INCREASED ENRICHMENT... 160
Tables 10 Table 3-1. NAC International-Legal Weight Truck (NAC-LWT) and NAC-Storage Transport Cask (NAC-STC) Technical Specifications 61
Table 3-2. Boiling Water Reactor and Pressurized Water Reactor Annual Unirradiated Fuel and Spent Fuel Shipments by Truck 63
Table 3-3. Fuel Parameter Values 64
Table 3-4. Radionuclide Inventory Parameter Values 64
Table 3-5. Total Annual Shipment Radiological Impacts for Unirradiated Accident Tolerant Fuel for One-Third-Core Reload 68
Table 3-6. Total Annual Shipment Radiological Impacts for Unirradiated Accident Tolerant Fuel for Half-Core Reload 68
Table 3-7. Total Annual Unirradiated Fuel Accident Impacts for One-Third-Core Reload 69
Table 3-8. Total Annual Unirradiated Fuel Nonradiological Accident Impacts for Half-Core Reload 69
Table 3-9. Total Annual Shipment Radiological Impacts for Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel for One-Third-Core Reload 72
Table 3-10. Total Annual Shipment Radiological Impacts for Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel for Half-Core Reload 73
Table 3-11. Average Annual Individual Radiological Dose to Total, Along Route, and Onlooker Populations for One-Third-Core Reload 74
Table 3-12. Average Annual Individual Radiological Dose to Total, Along Route, and Onlooker Populations for Half-Core Reload 75
Table 3-13. Radiological Accident Impacts of Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel for One-Third-Core Reload 77
Table 3-14. Radiological Accident Impacts of Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel for Half-Core Reload 78
Table 3-15. Nonradiological Accident Impacts of Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel for One-Third-Core Reload 80
Table 3-16. Nonradiological Accident Impacts of Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel for Half-Core Reload 81
Table 3-17. Sensitivity Rail Transport Impacts for One-Third-Core Reload 82
Table 3-18. Sensitivity Rail Transport Impacts for Half-Core Reload 83
Table 3-19. Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station Truck Transport Sensitivity Analysis Results for 72 and 85 GWd/MTU Based Release Fractions... 83
Table 3-20. Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station Truck Transport Sensitivity Analysis Results for 72 and 85 GWd/MTU Based Release Fractions... 84
Table 7-1. List of Preparers 110
Figures 9
Figure 2-1. Options of the Current Fuel Cycle, Which Includes the Table S-3 Uranium Fuel Cycle (NRC 2019-TN6652) 30
Figure 3-1. Diagrammatic Representation of Radiation-Based Exposure to Residents 52
Figure 3-2. Diagram of a Truck Route as Modeled in NRC-RADTRAN (i.e., along the route) 52
Figure 3-3. Diagram of Truck Stop Model (Not to Scale) 53
Figure 3-4. Illustration of Highway Traffic for Calculation of On-Link Dose (i.e., onlooker dose) 53
Figure 3-5. Highway Routes Across the United States 60
Figure 3-6. Rail Routes Across the United States 60
Figure 3-7. Unirradiated Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel Shipment Using Traveller Packages 61
Figure 3-8. Unirradiated Boiling Water Reactor Fuel Shipment Using RAJ-II Packages (Photos courtesy of Global Nuclear Fuels, General Electric) 62
Appendix Tables 10 Table A-1. Radionuclide Inventory Selected for NRC-RADTRAN Accident Tolerant Fuel Calculations 112
Table B-1. Items Addressed in High Burnup Spent Fuel Analysis 115
Table B-2. Pressurized Water Reactor Accident Cases 116
Table B-3. Updates to Expansion Factors for Pressurized Water Reactors 117
Table B-4. Updates to Expansion Factors for Boiling Water Reactors 118
Table B-5. Recommended Failure Fraction for Each Velocity Range for Pressurized Water Reactors 119
Table B-6. Recommended Failure Fraction for Each Velocity Range for Boiling Water Reactors 119
Table B-7. Changes to Particulate Release Fractions 120
Table B-8. Cesium and Rubidium Release Fractions for Both Analyses 121
Table B-9. New Release Fractions for 72 GWd/MTU for Pressurized Water Reactors 122
Table B-10. New Release Fractions for 72 GWd/MTU for Boiling Water Reactors 122
Table B-11. Changes to Particulate Release Fractions 123
Table B-12. New Release Fractions for 85 GWd/MTU for Pressurized Water Reactors 123
Table B-13. New Release Fractions for 85 GWd/MTU for Boiling Water Reactors 124
Table C-1. Sites Used for Transportation Evaluation 126
Table C-2. Shipping Distances 126
Table D-1. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Vehicles Tab 129
Table D-2. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Links Tab 130
Table D-3. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Stops Tab 131
Table D-4. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Handling Tab 131
Table D-5. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Packages Tab 132
Table D-6. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Accidents Tab 132
Table D-7. NRC-RADTRAN Transportation Input Parameter Values for the Radionuclides Tab 133
Table D-8. Compilation of 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census Data by State to Determine Annual Average Growth Rate for the Period 136
Table D-9. Brunswick Steam Electric Plant Truck Route Population Density 138
Table D-10. Columbia Generating Station Truck Route Population Density by State 139
Table D-11. Dresden Nuclear Power Station Truck Route Population Density by State 139
Table D-12. Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station Truck Route Density by State 140
Table D-13. Millstone Power Station Truck Route Population Density by State 141
Table D-14. Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station Truck Route Population Density by State 142
Table D-15. Daily Traffic Count and Truck Speed by State 143
Table D-16. Truck Accident, Fatality, and Injury Rates 146
Table E-1. Normal Condition and Accident Radiological Impacts per Shipment 150
Table E-2. Total Annual Radiological impacts for Normal Conditions and Accidents for One-Third-Core Reload 151
Table E-3. Total Annual Radiological impacts for Normal Conditions and Accidents for Half-Core Reload 152
Table E-4. Nonradiological Accident Fatalities and Injury Rates 153
Table E-5. Spent Fuel Nonradiological Impacts for One-Third-Core Reload 154
Table E-6. Spent Fuel Nonradiological Impacts for Half-Core Reload 155
Table E-7. Unirradiated Fuel Nonradiological Impacts for One-Third-Core Reload 156
Table E-8. Unirradiated Fuel Nonradiological Impacts for Half-Core Reload 156
Table E-9. Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel Rail Transportation Impacts for One-Third-Core Reload 157
Table E-10. Spent Accident Tolerant Fuel Rail Transportation Impacts for Half-Core Reload 158
Table E-11. Burnup Release Fractions Sensitivity Analysis Results for One-Third-Core Reload 159
Table E-12. Burnup Release Fractions Sensitivity Analysis Results for Half-Core Reload 159
Table F-1. Individuals Providing Comments During the Comment Period 160
Appendix Figures 9
Figure C-1. Highway Routes Across the United States 127
Figure C-2. Rail Routes Across the United States 127