Re: Various Comments- Serious and Otherwise

[RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 4/25/02 4:51:03 PM Mountain Daylight Time, 

jjcohen@prodigy.net writes:



<< If it were not so very dangerous, why would they need to do all that 

testing??? >>

I am not sure what "so very" means.  It is precisely because the casks are 

designed  (and tested) to withstand accidents that the danger and risk from 

spent fuel transportation is insignificant.  Certainly if there were no gamma 

and neutron shielding, and the casks could not withstand accidents, the 

transportation would be dangerous!  The design and construction are what 

mitigates the danger.



All radioactive material is not transported in Type B casks.  When potential 

releases and dispersion are such that the resulting doses would be 

insignificant, the packaging is designed to withstand the rigors of routine 

transportation but not accidents (Type A packaging).  A great deal of 

radioactive material is shipped in very small quantities and is packaged in 

ordinary industrial packaging.  



Fissile material is packaged and transported so as to prevent a criticality 

in an accident.



The NRC regulations (10 CFR Part 71) are designed to mitigate and/or obviate 

the dangers of transporting large amounts of very radioactive material, like 

spent fuel.   NRC (and actually the AEC) and DOE recognize that very 

radioactive material is hazardous, and regulate the packaging and 

transportation accordingly.  DOT regulates the packaging and transportation 

of all hazardous material (49 CFR Parts 173 to 178).  By analogy: gasoline is 

not transported in open buckets, or even in 55-gallon drums, because it IS 

dangerous when casually spilled.  Compressed gas cylinders are not stacked 

loosely on truck beds -- they are chained down, because they would be 

dangerous cargo if they were not secured.  Look at the shapes of chlroine and 

ammonia tank cars -- though not as well designed as Type B spent fuel casks, 

they are nonetheless deigned to minimize releases if the vehiclke is in an 

accident.

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