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DOE OSTI2023

Joint Geophysical and Numerical Insights of the Coupled Thermal‐Hydro‐Mechanical Processes During Heating in Salt

Abstract Salt offers an optimal medium for the permanent isolation of heat‐producing radioactive waste due to its impermeability, high thermal conductivity, and ability to close fractures through creep. A thorough understanding of the thermal‐hydrological‐mechanical (THM) processes, encompassing brine migration, is fundamental for secure radioactive waste disposal within salt formations. At the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), we conducted joint in situ geophysical monitoring experiments during active heating to investigate brine migration near excavations. This experiment incorporated electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) alongside high‐resolution fiber‐optic‐based distributed temperature sensing within a controlled heating experiment. Additionally, discrete element model (DEM) based numerical simulations were conducted to simulate THM processes during heating, providing a more mechanistic understanding of the coupled processes leading to the observed changes in geophysical measurements. During heating, resistivity shifts near the heater were reasonably explained by temperature effects. However, in more distant, cooler regions, the resistivity decrease exceeded predictions based solely on temperature. DEM simulations highlighted brine migration, propelled by pore pressure gradients, as the likely primary factor contributing to the additional resistivity decline beyond temperature effects. The comparison between the predicted ERT responses and observations was much improved when considering the effects of brine migration based on the DEM simulations. These geophysical and simulation findings shed light on brine migration in response to salt heating, enhancing our understanding of the coupled THM processes in salt for safe radioactive waste disposal.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Validation of numerical simulations of activation by neutron flux - 15038

The knowledge of the radionuclide content of radioactive waste is of utmost importance for safety and waste management reasons. Numerical simulations are used at EDF-CIDEN to anticipate the dismantling and the radioactive waste management. The activation scheme by neutron flux developed at EDF-CIDEN comprises four steps. First of all, a 3 dimensional description of the reactor, the chemical composition of each structure, and the neutron sources at nominal power rating conditions are used as the input data to simulate the neutron propagation and to generate a 3 dimensional multi energy group neutron flux distribution in nominal power rating conditions. Secondly, this output data is used with the chemical compositions (including impurities) and the history of the operating conditions to calculate the radiological inventory for each structure. Thirdly, according to the radioactive inventory of each component or sub-component, a waste classification can be made; the classification criteria are based on the levels of radioactivity and radiotoxicity of 143 radionuclides. Finally, comparisons between the calculated radioactive inventories and the results of radio-chemical analyses can be made. These comparisons are made with regards to the activation of 'standard' chemical elements (meaning radionuclides being perfectly modeled with no uncertainty about the chemical concentrations). The results, linked with 'standard' chemical elements, can be used to validate the calculation scheme, including the neutron propagation, the neutron activation and all the other associated simplified assumptions (geometry, history of irradiation, etc). For steel, activation of 'Fe' is retained, and for stainless steel, activation of 'Fe' 'Ni' are retained. Overall, the feedback from Chooz A (Pressurized Water Reactor) shows that numerical simulations produce a slight overestimation of 'Fe-55' and 'Ni-63'. The results linked with minor chemical elements or impurities allowed us to validate the use of the average measured compositions. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

The Challenges of Repository Operation in an Existing Mine - 19339

A generally accepted principle related to long term management of radioactive waste/ spent fuel is the isolation in a geological repository. In Germany, the disposal operation of low-level waste (LLW) and intermediate-level waste (ILW) started in the Asse II mine in 1967 and in the former German Democratic Republic in the Morsleben repository in 1971. After the German reunification, the responsibility for the existing sites changed several times until the Bundesgesellschaft fuer Endlagerung (BGE) became new license holder for both sites in 2017. The BGE is responsible to carry out the operative tasks of searching for a high-level waste (HLW) repository, the planning and construction of the Konrad repository for the emplacement of low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW), the operation of the Asse II mine including the retrieval of the emplaced waste, and the preparation for the closure of the Morsleben repository. Nevertheless, the challenges of repository operation in an existing mine have not changed in all these years, as the regulatory framework is mainly written for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and is difficult to adapt for a repository mine. In particular, conditions in a mine are substantially different from 'clean' above-ground nuclear installations. Dust due to mining activities, relatively high temperatures, and a corrosive atmosphere in a salt mine might be present. Therefore, the usability of the repository for several decades during the different operational phases, i.e. planning, construction, emplacement, and closure, can only be ensured by continuous maintenance. Furthermore, the atomic law is applicable for above-ground facilities and the mining law for mines of every description. The difficulty of geological repositories is to ensure that both laws are going to be applied above and below ground with no regulatory framework tailored especially for such sites. A special case is the Asse II mine where the mining law was applied from the very beginning, before the atomic law needed to be established later on and now requires the retrieval of the radioactive waste before decommissioning. In this presentation, similarities and differences in the legal framework of the repositories in the responsibility of BGE and some operational experiences throughout the years are described. This applies to the radiation protection regime, the excavation ratio, the host rock stability and the backfilling concepts of the mining areas. Further challenges arise from the demonstration of long term safety according to the state-of-the-art of science and technology for either existing repositories/ mines or those under construction or planned. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

Keep It Smart and Simple - Henriette - The Advanced Designed Drum Gripper for Remote Handling Tasks - 19327

A power manipulator has many applications in the handling, treatment and packaging of radioactive waste. In high radiation environments, where humans cannot work safely, a power manipulator is essential to perform difficult and heavy tasks. For more than 40 years, Waelischmiller has provided power manipulators to the nuclear market. Specifically in a high radiation nuclear environment, electrical driven manipulators are preferred. The basic design of a power manipulator is divided into the following parts: Bridge, carriage, telescopic mast and manipulator arm. All parts are customizable in length, width and capacity. The standard power manipulator version is equipped with a manipulator arm. For the nuclear waste disposal industry, there is a special need for a drum gripper. Drums are used for packing low, medium or high activated material and for storage. After packing, the drums must be handled remotely. For both tasks, a power manipulator with a drum gripper is needed. For this project KTE (Kerntechnische Entsorgung Karlsruhe GmbH) required a total refurbishment of equipment in a cell used for handling, sorting and packaging radioactive waste drums. The power manipulator was obsolete and provided low availability and through put. This cell was an essential asset in their decommissioning process and was impacting KTE's ability to meet their volume objectives. Our challenge was to develop a new system with few details from the original cell construction. The new manipulator must meet all capabilities of the old system and in addition have the ability to achieve 180 degree tilting of the drums. An additional challenge was the requirement to use the existing rails in the cell which were very close to the roof structure which required a special design. Our project, named internally Henriette, is the first of its kind. The drum gripper is based on the power manipulator A1000 series. The biggest challenges in this project were to adapt the standard components of the power manipulator to the non-standard type of gripper to have 180 deg. tilting of the drum and a handling capacity of 1200 kg in the whole working range. The new manipulator fits to the old rails and is mountable in a hot cell with restricted access and can operate with the other A1000 manipulator which is located in the cell. The result is a system with no external wiring, maintenance-free and easy to decontaminate. Other features include a 5 t auxiliary hoist on additional and parallel carriages, emergency drives for bridge and carriage, emergency drive for telescope turn movement and emergency lifting unit for telescope. A tilt and pan holder for camera on the telescope and external mechanical emergency drives on the gripper were also essential. This paper will address the complexity, challenges and engineering ingenuity required to replace very old and obsolete equipment with a state-of-the-art system within very limited physical space and within a high radiation environment. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Sealing Shales versus Brittle Shales: A Sharp Threshold in the Material Properties and Energy Technology Uses of Fine-Grained Sedimentary Rocks

Fine-grained sedimentary rocks (shale and mudstone) play important roles in global CO 2 abatement efforts through their uses in carbon capture and storage (CCS), radioactive waste storage, and shale gas extraction. These different technologies, however, rely on seemingly conflicting premises regarding the sealing properties of shale and mudstone, suggesting that those rocks that lend themselves to hydrocarbon extraction may not be optimal seals for CCS or radioactive waste storage, and vice versa. In this paper, a compilation of experimental data on the properties of well-characterized shale and mudstone formations is used to demonstrate that clay mineral mass fraction, X clay , is a very important variable the controls key material properties of these formations and that a remarkably sharp threshold at X clay ~ 1/3 separates fine-grained rocks with very different properties. Finally, this threshold coincides with the predictions of a simple conceptual model of the microstructure of sedimentary rocks and is reflected in the uses of shale and mudstone formations for CCS, radioactive waste storage, and shale gas extraction.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Past Approaches for Spent Nuclear Fuel, Transuranic, and High-Level Waste Disposal in the United States—Part 2: Siting Process, Staged Development, and Public Preferences

This report presents pertinent aspects of the ~50-year United States experience in siting a mined geologic disposal repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), transuranic (TRU) waste, and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) as related to site selection and the staged process for site investigations as specified in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and generic and site-specific regulations of the US Department of Energy (DOE), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The roles of the Environmental Impact Statement and guidance in international consensus standards by the International Atomic Energy Agency are also mentioned. The focus is on siting and developing the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an operating repository for TRU waste from atomic energy defense activities, and the proposed Yucca Mountain repository for commercial SNF and HLW. In the social dimension, the role of institutional stakeholders is described. Past national surveys related to waste management options for storage and disposal provide insight on public preferences of other stakeholders. The descriptions are intended to help other countries more fully understand the stages adopted for siting and developing repositories in the United States.

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DOE OSTI2020

Technical Issues that Need to Be Addressed in Preparing a Large Program to Transport SNF and HLW - 20093

The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Board) has been interested for many years in the Department of Energy (DOE) activities related to transporting spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The Board has conducted several public meetings and issued associated reports on this topic. In September 2019, the Board issued a report entitled Preparing for Nuclear Waste Transportation-Technical Issues that Need to Be Addressed in Preparing for a Nationwide Effort to Transport Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste [1] that focuses on the issues DOE will need to address to plan and implement an integrated transportation program. In its report, the Board describes 30 broad technical issues that DOE needs to address and offers three sets of findings and recommendations to DOE. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Initial Site-Specific Deinventory Report for Connecticut Yankee

This report has been developed to satisfy solicitation number 6400014223 under subcontract number 4000138474 issued by UT-Battelle, LLC, managing contractor of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to AREVA Federal Services (AFS). The purpose of this report is to assist the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) in laying the groundwork for implementing an integrated waste management system. This includes preparing for future large-scale transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW), and Greater Than Class C (GTCC) Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW). This report addresses the tasks, equipment, and interfaces necessary for the complete deinventory of the Connecticut Yankee (CY) independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) site located on the eastern shore of the Connecticut River near Haddam Neck, CT; about 13 miles southeast of Middletown and 25 miles southeast of Hartford, CT. As such, this report is intended to provide information useful for planning options within the integrated waste management system.

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DOE OSTI2017

Initial Site-Specific De-Inventory Report for Kewaunee

This report has been developed to satisfy the Statement of Work for Task Order #3 for the Department of Energy (DOE) – Office of Nuclear Energy under contract number DE-NE0008491 issued to AREVA Federal Services (AFS). The purpose of this report is to assist the United States (U.S.) DOE in laying the groundwork for implementing an integrated nuclear waste management system. This includes preparing for future large-scale transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW), and Greater Than Class C (GTCC) Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW). This report addresses the tasks, equipment, and interfaces necessary for the complete de-inventory of the Kewaunee Power Station (KPS) independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) site located in the town of Carlton, WI (but with a Kewaunee mailing address), approximately 30 miles southeast of Green Bay, WI and 90 miles north of Milwaukee, WI. As such, this report is intended to provide information useful for planning options within an integrated nuclear waste management system.

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DOE OSTI2017

Initial Site-Specific De-Inventory Report for Trojan

This report has been developed to satisfy solicitation number 6400014223 under subcontract number 4000146712 issued by UT-Battelle, LLC, managing contractor of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to AREVA Federal Services (AFS). The purpose of this report is to assist the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) in laying the groundwork for implementing an integrated waste management system. This includes preparing for future large-scale transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW), and Greater Than Class C (GTCC) Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW). This report addresses the tasks, equipment, and interfaces necessary for the complete de-inventory of the Trojan independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) located in northwestern Oregon along the Columbia River at river mile 72.5 and approximately 42 miles north of Portland, OR. As such, this report is intended to provide information useful for planning options within the integrated waste management system.

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DOE OSTI2017

Initial Site-Specific De-Inventory Report for Maine Yankee

This report has been developed to satisfy solicitation number 6400014223 under subcontract number 4000146712 issued by UT-Battelle, LLC, managing contractor of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to AREVA Federal Services (AFS). The purpose of this report is to assist the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) in laying the groundwork for implementing an integrated waste management system. This includes preparing for future large-scale transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW), and Greater Than Class C (GTCC) Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW). This report addresses the tasks, equipment, and interfaces necessary for the complete de-inventory of the Maine Yankee (MY) independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) site located in the mid-coast region of Maine approximately 25 miles south of Augusta, ME and 45 miles northeast of Portland, ME. As such, this report is intended to provide information useful for planning options within the integrated waste management system.

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DOE OSTI2016

Characterisation of imperial college reactor centre legacy waste using gamma-ray spectrometry

Waste characterisation is a principal component in waste management strategy. The characterisation includes identification of chemical, physical and radiochemical parameters of radioactive waste. Failure to determine specific waste properties may result in sentencing waste packages which are not compliant with the regulation of long term storage or disposal. This project involved measurement of intensity and energy of gamma photons which may be emitted by radioactive waste generated during decommissioning of Imperial College Reactor Centre (ICRC). The measurement will use High Purity Germanium (HPGe) as Gamma-ray detector and ISOTOPIC-32 V4.1 as analyser. In order to ensure the measurements provide reliable results, two quality control (QC) measurements using difference matrices have been conducted. The results from QC measurements were used to determine the accuracy of the ISOTOPIC software.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Managing Low-Level Waste at Dounreay - 16269

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) is the site licence company responsible for the clean-up and demolition of Britain's former centre of fast reactor research and development. The Dounreay site requires facilities to dispose of up to 175,000 cubic metres of low level waste (LLW) that has been and will continue to be generated during the decommissioning and restoration of the site. In May 2014, construction of two new vaults for the disposal of LLW at Dounreay was completed, including the necessary roads, infrastructures and services, followed by an encapsulation plant in September 2014. The vaults are located immediately to the northeast of the Dounreay licensed site, on NDA-owned land. The facilities are for disposal of the solid LLW generated at Dounreay and the adjacent Vulcan site only. In 2004, following consultation with stakeholders and members of the public, Dounreay issued the 'Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) Report' on the management of Dounreay LLW. This report assessed potential management options for LLW against a range of criteria, including technical, environmental, cost, health and safety issues. The study was conducted in line with best practice and involved consultation with a range of people, including the local community and organisations with an interest in radioactive waste management. The recommendations and conclusions from the study provided the basis for the 'Dounreay Solid LLW Overall Strategy', which was published in March 2005. A fundamental component of this strategy was the development of new below-ground disposal vaults for LLW at Dounreay. Siting the vaults on land at Dounreay avoids any need to transport the LLW away from Dounreay on public roads. Disposal at Dounreay therefore satisfies the proximity principle of managing the waste at source. Disposal at Dounreay is also consistent with UK Government Policy on LLW management, the Scottish Government's Radioactive Waste Management Policy and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA's) strategy on management of LLW from the UK nuclear industry. A planning application was initially lodged with the Highland Council in June 2006. The period for the determination of this application was extended to allow the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) sufficient time to assess fully the supporting Environmental Safety Case (ESC). The planning application was re-activated in May 2008, and planning permission was granted by Highland Council in April 2009. The planning permission included 26 conditions on DSRL, covering a wide range of environmental issues such as construction noise/dust, traffic, visual impact and also a condition to develop a community fund aimed at socio-economic development of the area around the Dounreay site. After undertaking the necessary detailed design work, construction of the phase one vaults commenced in November 2011 by principal contractor, Graham Construction. Work was undertaken on both vaults simultaneously, excavating around 243,000 m{sup 3} of rock. When excavation was complete, steel reinforcement was placed and concrete poured to construct the floor slabs. This was followed by the construction of the reinforced walls and then the installation of the steel support structure and materials that form the roof. Mechanical and electrical installation then followed, in parallel with the construction of the vault apron, ramps and access roads. A pumping system and control building was also constructed to remove groundwater from around the vaults to allow the vaults to be kept dry while they are being filled with waste. A layer of excavated material, approximately 3 m thick, was placed across the existing ground surface between the vaults and the coast, to ensure the water table lies well below the new ground surface after closure of the vaults, and that any future trace contaminated groundwater flows out to the sea rather than to the soil zone. This layer is referred to in project documents as the 'enhanced geosphere'. After disposals are completed and the vaults are closed, this layer will be joined to the capping over the vaults so that the ensemble merges visually with the surrounding landscape. The original vegetation and soil mix will be returned as far as is practicable. An encapsulation plant has been constructed to fill the LLW containers with grout prior to disposal in the vault, similar to the process used at the national Low-Level Waste Repository facility (LLWR), near Drigg in Cumbria. The plant has the capacity to grout up to four containers per day. The grout fills voids in the container and helps provide chemical conditions in the vault that limit the release of radionuclides in the far future, after the vault has been penetrated by groundwater. On April 24 2015, active commissioning began at the Encapsulation Plant and LLW Vaults. Half-height ISO containers packed with low level waste are currently being filled with grout and disposed of in the LLW Vault. Also packaged Demolition Low Level Waste (DLLW) is being processed and disposed of in the Demolition Low Level Waste Vault. To date over 2500 packages of DLLW and 70 containers LLW have been disposed of. Completion of construction and the start of operating the Phase One vaults and encapsulation plant are fundamental to the successful and efficient decommissioning of the Dounreay site, upon which many millions of pounds of investment and hundreds of jobs rely.

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DOE OSTI2016

The Importance of Experience Based Decommissioning Planning - 16242

Decommissioning of a nuclear facility is an extensive and multidisciplinary task which involves the management and technical actions associated with ceasing operation and thereafter the step by step transfer of the facility from an operating plant to an object under decommissioning. The decommissioning phase includes dismantling of systems and components, decontamination and clearance, demolition of buildings, remediation of any contaminated ground and finally a survey of the site. Several of these activities generate radioactive or potentially radioactive waste which has to be managed properly prior to clearance or disposal. What makes decommissioning of nuclear installations unique is to a large extent the radioactive waste management. No other industries have that complex regulatory frameworks for waste management. If a decommissioning project in the nuclear industry does not consider the waste aspects to the extent required, there is a large risk of failure causing a reduced trust by the regulators and other stakeholders as well as cost and schedule overruns. This paper will give an overview of important aspects and findings gathered during decades of planning and conducting decommissioning and nuclear facility modernization projects. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Initial Site-Specific De-Inventory Report for Big Rock Point

This report has been developed to satisfy solicitation number 6400013399 under subcontract number 4000138474 issued by UT-Battelle, LLC, managing contractor of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to AREVA Federal Services (AFS). The purpose of this report is to assist the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) in laying the groundwork for implementing an integrated waste management system. This includes preparing for future large-scale transport of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF), High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) and Greater Than Class C (GTCC) Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLW). This report addresses the tasks, equipment, and interfaces necessary for the complete de-inventory of the Big Rock Point (BRP) site on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan about 4 miles north of Charlevoix and approximately 11 miles west of Petoskey, MI. As such, this report is intended to provide information useful for planning options within the integrated waste management system.

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DOE OSTI2016

International Collaboration Activities on Engineered Barrier Systems

The Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) within the DOE Fuel Cycle Technologies (FCT) program has been engaging in international collaborations between repository R&D programs for high-level waste (HLW) disposal to leverage on gathered knowledge and laboratory/field data of near- and far-field processes from experiments at underground research laboratories (URL). Heater test experiments at URLs provide a unique opportunity to mimetically study the thermal effects of heat-generating nuclear waste in subsurface repository environments. Various configurations of these experiments have been carried out at various URLs according to the disposal design concepts of the hosting country repository program. The FEBEX (Full-scale Engineered Barrier Experiment in Crystalline Host Rock) project is a large-scale heater test experiment originated by the Spanish radioactive waste management agency (Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos S.A. – ENRESA) at the Grimsel Test Site (GTS) URL in Switzerland. The project was subsequently managed by CIEMAT. FEBEX-DP is a concerted effort of various international partners working on the evaluation of sensor data and characterization of samples obtained during the course of this field test and subsequent dismantling. The main purpose of these field-scale experiments is to evaluate feasibility for creation of an engineered barrier system (EBS) with a horizontal configuration according to the Spanish concept of deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste in crystalline rock. Another key aspect of this project is to improve the knowledge of coupled processes such as thermal-hydro-mechanical (THM) and thermal-hydro-chemical (THC) operating in the near-field environment. The focus of these is on model development and validation of predictions through model implementation in computational tools to simulate coupled THM and THC processes.

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DOE OSTI2016

Nuclear Waste Facility Siting; 40 Years of Experience - 16521

In this study, siting efforts for radioactive waste management facilities in democratic countries have been reviewed to identify common factors of success and failure. The study has considered facility siting efforts in the past 40 years. The study has considered storage and disposal facilities for low-level wastes (LLW), transuranic wastes (TRU), intermediate-level wastes (ILW), high-level wastes (HLW) and used nuclear fuel (UNF). The study has reviewed thirty-nine facility siting efforts with the following results: - 13 successes in Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden and the US. - 18 failures in Australia, Korea, the UK and the US. - 8 ongoing efforts in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

Preliminary Evaluation of Removing Spent Nuclear Fuel from Shutdown Nuclear Power Plant Sites - 2018 - 19101

This is a technical paper that does not take into account the contractual limitations under the Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste (Standard Contract) (10 CFR Part 961). Under the provisions of the Standard Contract, DOE does not consider spent nuclear fuel in multi-assembly canisters to be an acceptable waste form, absent a mutually agreed to contract amendment. To the extent discussions or recommendations in this paper conflict with the provisions of the Standard Contract, the Standard Contract provisions prevail. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Integrated Waste Management (DOE-IWM) continues to conduct evaluations of removing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from shutdown nuclear power plant sites. The 14 shutdown sites included in the evaluation to date have nuclear power reactors that have been permanently shut down and the sites have been decommissioned or are undergoing decommissioning. The 14 shutdown sites 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. The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station ceased operations in September 2018 and will be included in future evaluations. The evaluations of the shutdown sites contain four components: - A characterization of the SNF and greater-than-Class C low-level radioactive waste (GTCC waste) inventory; - A description of the on-site infrastructure at the shutdown sites; - An evaluation of the near-site transportation infrastructure and experience at the shutdown sites - An evaluation of the actions necessary to prepare for and remove SNF and GTCC waste. The primary sources for the inventory of SNF were the DOE GC-859 and RW-859 spent nuclear fuel inventory databases. This inventory has been augmented with data obtained from the shutdown sites for SNF discharges that occurred after June 2013. The primary sources for information on the conditions of site and near-site transportation infrastructure and experience included field observations and information collected during visits to the 14 shutdown sites, information provided by managers and staff at the shutdown sites, and Google Earth imagery. Extensive photographs taken during the shutdown site visits have proven to be particularly useful in documenting the current conditions at and near the shutdown sites. Tribal and state representatives, State and Regional Group representatives, and Federal Railroad Administration representatives have participated in 11 of the shutdown site visits. In addition to visiting the shutdown site, site visits often include activities such as meeting with local railroads to discuss the near-site railroad infrastructure and meeting with community engagement panels. Oyster Creek permanently ceased power operations on September 17, 2018 and fuel was removed from the reactor vessel on September 25, 2018. Planning for the Oyster Creek site visit has begun and is conducted in three stages. In the first stage, data and documents that are applicable to Oyster Creek are collected. In the second stage, questions are developed based on the data and documents collected during the first stage. These questions are submitted to the Oyster Creek site approximately one month before the site visit. The third stage involves establishing specific schedules and participants. Participants will likely include tribal and state representatives, the Council of State Governments - Eastern Regional Conference, and the Federal Railroad Administration. State participation will likely include a representative of the State Rail Safety Participation Program, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the New Jersey Bureau of Nuclear Engineering. The site visit is tentatively expected to occur in April or May of 2019. (authors)

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