Radioactive material transportation: The utilities' perspective on the legal and regulatory environment

The respective roles of federal and state governments in regulating the transportation of radioactive materials must be better defined if these materials are to move safely and efficiently. Recent increases in shipments of spent fuel, which will accelerate as the Nuclear Waste Policy Act is implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE), has heightened interest in this issue. This paper explains the electric utility industry's perspective on these matters as reflected in the industry's comments on the DOE's Transportation Business Plan and comments in a recent proceeding convened by the Department of Transportation to consider the consistency with federal law of an Illinois law imposing a $1000 per cask fee on shipments of spent fuel through the state. Also discussed are the industry's view on the transportation aspects of the DOE's proposal to include a monitored retrievable storage facility as an integral part of the federal waste management system and the appropriate role of states, localities, and tribal authorities in the regulation of the highway and rail routing of radioactive materials