A shipment of spent fuel will be repatriated to the United States (US) prior to the end of the year , various councils were advised by ANSTO today. Waste arising from the storage or processing of this spent fuel remain in the United States.
“As a courtesy to the local residents, ANSTO has informed relevant councils and politicians that a convoy of trucks containing securely contained spent fuel elements may be passing through their areas in the near future,” said Dr Ian Smith, ANSTO’s Executive Director.
“The exact timing and route of the convoy, and the point of departure of the ship taking the spent fuel to the US, will not be disclosed for obvious security reasons,” he said. “The shipment will be conducted under strict international and national security and safety standards.”
The solid spent fuel elements will travel to the US in a special purpose cargo ship designed to carry radioactive material. The elements will be safely and securely packed in casks that have undergone rigorous testing to ensure they cannot be ruptured, even in the most severe accident.
ANSTO is working closely with NSW Police, its regulatory bodies ARPANSA and ASNO and other relevant parties to prepare for this shipment.
“The level of radioactivity detectable outside the heavily shielded casks is very low,” said Dr Smith.
“For example, if you stood right next to a cask for one week, 24 hours a day, you’d only receive half the amount of radiation you would naturally be exposed to in a year from naturally occurring sources.”
Since 1963, seven shipments of ANSTO’s spent fuel have travelled to various places around the world without incident. This is the eighth shipment. Internationally since 1971, there have been over 7,000 shipments of spent fuel. There has never been an incident that resulted in the release of radioactivity.
The transportation of the fuel follows a Federal Government decision in September 1997 not to establish a reprocessing facility at Lucas Heights but instead to ship all spent fuel overseas.
“The shipment is part of our planned process of meeting the expressed desires of the local community for the reduction in the amount of spent fuel stored at our Lucas Heights site,” said Dr Smith.
“The Department of Environment and Heritage, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and relevant security and law enforcement authorities have each approved arrangements for the shipment,” he concluded.
Published: 01/12/2006