The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that over a 35-year period the WIPP would receive 37,723 shipments of transuranic wastes from the waste-generator sites (10 generator sites will be the primary shippers) across the United States. Initial shipments, which could begin as early as mid-1998, would consist of contact-handled wastes only. Shipments of remote-handled wastes would begin later.

Table 3. Estimated Number of Shipments to the
WIPP from Major Waste-Generator Sites

Generator Site	Number of Contact- Handled Shipments	Number of Remote- Handled Shipments	Total Shipments
Los Alamos, New Mexico	5,009	367	5,376
Idaho National Engineering Lab	5,782	3,136	8,918
Rocky Flats, Colorado	2,485	0	2,485
Savannah River Site, South Carolina	2,238	0	2,238
Hanford, Washington	13,666	3,178	16,844
Mound Laboratory, Ohio	59	0	59
Argonne National Lab-East, Illinois	28	0	28
Lawrence Livermore, California	162	0	162
Nevada Test Site	86	0	86
Oak Ridge, Tennessee	251	1,276	1,527
Totals	29,766	7,957	37,723
Source: WIPP Disposal Phase Draft SEIS-II, DOE, DOE/EIS-002-S-2, November 1996, Chapter 5, Proposed Action. Numbers are subject to change.	Table is adapted from the Web site of the New Mexico WIPP Transportation Safety Program, http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/wipp.

The WIPP would also receive waste shipments from small-quantity generator sites. The total volume of WIPP-bound waste from these sites, however, would amount to only 6,038 cubic feet, or less than 1 percent of the total waste to be transported to the WIPP.

Table 4. Small-Quantity Sites

Site Name	State
Ames Laboratory	Iowa
ARCO Medical Products Company	Pennsylvania
Babcock & Wilcox	Virginia
Battelle Columbus Laboratories	Ohio
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory	Pennsylvania
Energy Technology Engineering Center	California
General Electric Vallecitos Nuclear Center	California
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory	New York
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory	California
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant	Kentucky
Sandia National Laboratories	New Mexico
University of Missouri Research Reactor	Missouri
U.S. Army Material Command	Illinois
Source: Adapted from the Web site of the New Mexico WIPP Transportation Safety Program, http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/wipp.

Transportation Routes

Figure 4. Proposed WIPP Shipment Routes

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad Area Office, February 1997.

An individual shipment bound for the WIPP could pass through as many as ten states, including New Mexico and the shipment’s state of origin. Approximately thirty states are to have designated routes for shipments of transuranic wastes.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued regulations that set guidelines for routing of highway route control quantities of radioactive waste to the WIPP, in Part 397, Subpart D in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.

Figure 5. WIPP Shipment Routes in New Mexico

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad Area Office.

Those regulations give state routing agencies and Indian tribes authority to designate routes within their borders. Different departments make the decision in different states, ranging from the Department of Health in Texas to the Public Service Commission in Indiana. DOT regulations require that carriers transporting shipments from storage and generator sites follow the most direct interstate highway route, using bypasses and beltways when available around highly populated areas.

In 1991, the New Mexico State Highway Commission designated WIPP shipment routes within the State of New Mexico.

Transport Vehicles

A dedicated fleet of trucks, operated under contract to DOE, would transport waste to the WIPP. These trucks are modified flatbed trailers attached to conventional diesel tractors, each with the capacity to haul up to three containers specifically designed to transport contact-handled transuranic waste. Special safety measures applicable to WIPP transport vehicles include independent mechanical and radiological inspections; weather checks prior to dispatch; satellite tracking and communications with the vehicle; designation of safe parking areas for use en route in the event of bad weather; and procedures for quickly (within eight hours) replacing or repairing vehicles that malfunction en route; and routine replacement of tractors at three-year or 300,000-mile intervals.

Transport Containers

Contact-handled transuranic waste would travel in special containers, called the Transuranic Packaging Transporter Model 2, or TRUPACT-II, which are designed to prevent radioactive releases, even in the event of a severe accident or other emergency. Each stainless steel TRUPACT-II container is eight feet in diameter and 10 feet high, airtight, and constructed with inner and outer containment vessels.

To demonstrate durability under extreme conditions, the TRUPACT-II container has been subjected to and has passed a series of tests: dropping the container 30 feet onto a steel-reinforced concrete pad; submitting it to jet fuel flames at temperatures greater than 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes; and dropping it onto a steel spike to test puncture resistance.

Figure 6. TRUPACT-II

Source: U.S. Department of Energy.

Any container used to transport radioactive waste must be tested and approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The TRUPACT-II has received NRC approval for transport of contact-handled transuranic waste. Prototypes of a new transuranic waste transport container, called the HalfPACT, have been developed; an application for certification of the container is expected to be submitted to NRC in the fall of 1998. The HalfPACT, a shorter version of the TRUPACT-II, is designed to carry heavy drums of waste more efficiently and would therefore reduce the number of shipments necessary and, in turn, the potential for accidents.

An application for certification of the RH-72B, designed to transport remote-handled transuranic waste, has been submitted and is awaiting NRC approval.

Driver Training

Drivers of vehicles transporting transuranic waste would be required to comply with all DOT training requirements for transporting radioactive materials. They would be required to cleanly pass all substance abuse tests, and be trained and retrained each year to tackle a variety of transport conditions and situations, including rough terrain, severe weather conditions, and sabotage. Drivers would also be required to satisfactorily complete a First Responders Course, which is comparable to training provided emergency response personnel along designated WIPP routes, to prepare them to take proper steps in case of an accident or incident. Additionally, DOE would require the drivers to have more than 100,000 miles of trucking experience.

Finally, there are strong incentives for drivers to operate WIPP transport vehicles safely at all times. For example, if a driver were convicted of even a single moving violation, he or she would be fired. In addition, drivers would be trained to use radiation detection instruments so they could reliably determine the presence or absence of radiation.

Figure 7. Inspection Decal

Source: Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

Vehicle Inspection

Before a shipment bound for the WIPP can be loaded onto the truck, it will have been inspected and certified as safe for travel. Certified state inspectors would check the vehicle, the cargo, and the driver. These inspectors could prevent a shipment from being dispatched if they determined that it did not meet the applicable inspection standards. Vehicles that passed this inspection would be identified with a special decal.

Tracking Waste Shipments

To track and communicate with vehicles transporting radioactive and certain other types of hazardous wastes, DOE has developed the Transportation Tracking and Communication System, known as TRANSCOM. All shipments to the WIPP are to be tracked through this system. TRANSCOM, which has a 24-hour control center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, uses satellite communications and computer networks to track shipments from start to end. The control center is to house and maintain a database containing scheduling, routing, shipment content, and emergency response information about each shipment to the WIPP. Federal, state, and tribal officials are to have access to this database.

Figure 8. TRANSCOM Tracking System

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad Area Office.

Vehicles transporting waste to the WIPP would be tracked by two satellites. The vehicle’s position would be transmitted to a satellite receiving station and relayed to the TRANSCOM control center, where the information would be displayed on computer-generated maps. Officials with access to TRANSCOM would be able to monitor this information on their computers. If the truck gets off the designated route or stops moving without explanation, control center operators follow up to identify and solve the problem.

Drivers and others with access to the system could communicate with one another through TRANSCOM’s central operator. State police, for example, could transmit a message to drivers through the TRANSCOM central operator about driving conditions along a route, and drivers, in turn, could respond through the operator.

Emergency Response

The DOE Albuquerque Field Office Emergency Operations Center is to be in charge of any incident involving a shipment of transuranic waste, regardless of where the incident occurs. DOE’s response would be automatic and not contingent on a state request for assistance. DOE maintains regional offices that can receive calls for assistance 24 hours a day and are prepared to send trained personnel and equipment to incident sites.

The initial response to an incident would most likely come from local “first responders,” such as state or local police departments, fire departments, and other emergency response personnel. State and local governments have emergency response plans that outline specific procedures for handling a hazardous materials transportation accident safely and effectively.

Local first responders are trained in material identification, regulations, response procedures, and personal protection. In the event of an incident, local responders would usually contact state public health agencies, and, if necessary, the first response team would be followed by the appropriate DOE Radiological Assistance Team and eventually augmented by the DOE Carlsbad Area Office’s Incident/Accident Response Team, which would be on standby while transuranic waste shipments are in progress.

DOE’s States and Tribal Education Program (STEP), which began in 1988, offers courses on responding to potential incidents involving shipments of waste to the WIPP. In 1993, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reviewed and certified the STEP courses. Through STEP, DOE has trained more than 11,000 emergency response personnel.

The six STEP courses consist of

• an eight-hour First Responder Course;
• a four-hour First Responder Refresher Course;
• a two-day Command and Control Course for individuals who may be in charge at the scene of a WIPP transportation incident;
• a twelve-hour Train-the-Trainer Course that teaches state-certified instructors how to incorporate WIPP-specific information from the First Responder Course into their hazardous materials training programs;
• a Mitigation Course, aimed at state health, safety, environmental, and radiological personnel who have radiological monitoring and assessment responsibilities in the event of a WIPP transportation incident; and
• an eight-hour Medical Management Course for hospital emergency room doctors and nurses who may have to treat patients contaminated with radioactive material.