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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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      <title>A study on the gaseous radionuclide dispersion in the highway across urban blocks: Effects of the urban morphology, roadside vegetation and leakage location</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2162723</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Spent fuel is a used nuclear waste that poses a great hazard to human body and the environment. In this work, the dispersion of gaseous radionuclides from the highway to downstream urban is simulated using CFD based on a hypothetical spent fuel transport accident, with focus on the effects of urban morphology, roadside vegetation and leakage location. The velocity field, TKE (turbulent kinetic energy) distribution and radionuclide concentration under different conditions are carefully explored. The results show that the dispersion of radionuclides is greatly influenced by the velocity field and TKE distribution. The health risk to the residents of sparse urban is lowest when the leakage source location is set in the highway where both directly upstream and downstream are empty, due to the strongest flow channeling effect. When the leakage source location is set in the highway where both directly upstream and downstream are buildings, the health risk to the residents of compact urban is lowest, since the flow velocity and TKE at the street canyons are very low. The roadside vegetation can generally decrease the concentration of the radionuclides near the highway. This work provides guidance on assessing the health risk of the population and a reference for emergency response.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Jun 2023 09:49:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2162723</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>An Integrated Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methodology for Maritime Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel Based on Event Tree and Hydrodynamic Model</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1998411</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Spent nuclear fuel maritime transportation (SNFMT) accident may cause radiation hazards to personnel, vessels, and the ocean environment. Current risk assessment methods of SNFMT lack full consideration and quantification of the risk indicators. In this work, an integrated probabilistic risk assessment (IPRA) methodology incorporating multiple risk factors-based accident probability model and public dose-based radiological consequence model quantitatively is proposed for SNFMT. First, from the sociotechnical-environmental risk perspective, the SMCETC (Ship, Management, Crew, Environment, Tank, Channel) comprehensive risk indicators are identified for ET-FT modeling. Second, considering the effects of continuous emissions, water depth, tidal cycle, and radioactive decay, a shallow water equations-based hydrodynamic model is established to simulate the radionuclide concentration in coastal water. Third, the ET-FT model-based accident frequency and the radionuclide concentration-based population radiation consequence are integrated, and subsequently the public radioactive risks are obtained. Finally, a case study is presented to demonstrate the feasibility and value of the proposed method. The time-related public radioactive risks were quantified and 28 highly safety importance risk factors were found and ranked. The proposed IPRA methodology integrates deterministic and probabilistic modeling perspectives, and provides a comprehensive risk assessment tool for SNFMT.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Aug 2022 15:05:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1998411</guid>
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      <title>Analytical Evaluation of Preliminary Drop Tests Performed to Develop a Robust Design for the Standardized DOE Spent Nuclear Fuel Canister</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1894391</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a design concept for a set of standard canisters for the handling, interim storage, transportation, and disposal in the national repository of DOE spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The standardized DOE SNF canister has to be capable of handling virtually all of the DOE SNF in a variety of potential storage and transportation systems. It must also be acceptable to the repository, based on current and anticipated future requirements. This expected usage mandates a robust design. The canister design has four unique geometries, with lengths of approximately 10 feet or 15 feet, and an outside nominal diameter of 18 inches or 24 inches. The canister has been developed to withstand a drop from 30 feet onto a rigid (flat) surface, sustaining only minor damage - but no rupture - to the pressure (containment) boundary. The majority of the end drop-induced damage is confined to the skirt and lifting/stiffening ring components, which can be removed if desired after an accidental drop. A canister, with its skirt and stiffening ring removed after an accidental drop, can continue to be used in service with appropriate operational steps being taken. Features of the design concept have been proven through drop testing and finite element analyses of smaller test specimens. Finite element analyses also validated the canister design for drops onto a rigid (flat) surface for a variety of canister orientations at impact, from vertical to 45 degrees off vertical. Actual 30-foot drop testing has also been performed to verify the final design, though limited to just two full-scale test canister drops. In each case, the analytical models accurately predicted the canister response.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2022 16:44:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1894391</guid>
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      <title>Special Routing of Spent Fuel Shipment Study</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493765</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Special rail routing of spent fuel shipments from commercial nuclear power plants to Away-From-Reactor (AFR) storage and disposal sites has been proposed as one means of reducing the consequences and severity of radioactive materials accidents in areas of high population density. Whether or not special rail routing of spent fuel shipments does indeed decrease radiation exposure levels under normal and accident transportation conditions and at what incremental cost forms the basis of this study funded by the Federal Railroad Administration. The study is divided into five areas: (1) developing analytical models for assessing the risks associated with both the normal and accident transport modes; (2) selecting representative origin to destination routing pairs using the normal transportation and accident risk models; (3) analyzing rail shipment costs for nuclear spent fuel; and (4) performing sensitivity analyses to identify parameters that critically affect the total exposure level. The major findings resulting from this study. are: (1) the risk over the seven example routes is relatively small for the normal transport mode; (2) the risk associated with an accident is at least an order of magnitude larger than the normal transport dose in all cases and as such is the overriding contribution to the total expected transport dose; and (3) no beneficial cost versus dose reduction relationship was found for any of the routes studied.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:19:30 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1493765</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Spent Nuclear Fuel: Legislative, Technical, and Societal Challenges to Its Transportation</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1370859</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Spent nuclear fuel—the used fuel removed from commercial nuclear power reactors—is an extremely harmful substance if not managed properly. The nation’s inventory of spent nuclear fuel has grown to about 72,000 metric tons currently stored at 75 sites in 33 states, primarily where it was generated. Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the Department of Energy (DOE) was to investigate Yucca Mountain, a site about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. DOE terminated its work at Yucca Mountain in 2010 and now plans to transport the spent nuclear fuel to interim storage sites beginning in 2021 and 2024, then to a permanent disposal site by 2048. Transportation of spent nuclear fuel is a major element of any policy adopted to manage and dispose of spent nuclear fuel. This testimony by Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, discusses three key challenges related to transporting spent nuclear fuel: legislative, technical, and societal. It is based on reports the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued from November 2009 to October 2014.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2015 09:35:13 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1370859</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Used Fuel Disposition Campaign. Transportation Shock and Vibration Literature Review</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1258379</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The purpose of this report is to document the results of a literature review conducted of studies related to the vibration and shock associated with the normal conditions of transport for rail shipments of used nuclear fuel from commercial light-water reactors. The objective of this report is to determine if adequate data exist to realistically evaluate the impacts of the shock and vibration associated with the normal conditions of transport on commercial light-water reactor used nuclear fuel shipped in current-generation high-capacity rail transportation casks. The literature review concentrated on papers and reports related to the transport of used nuclear fuel, radioactive waste, or other radioactive material, in part because of the weight associated with commercial light-water reactor used nuclear fuel rail transportation casks, which is about 300,000 lb., and because the weight of the transportation cask on a railcar directly affects the magnitude of vibrations and shock imparted to the used nuclear fuel contained in the transportation cask.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:24:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1258379</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Railroad Carrier Employee Exposure to Radiation</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1146860</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This report was prepared by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) following the specific mandate of Congress to investigate occupational exposures to ionizing radiation of specific groups of employees during railroad transportation of high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Commercial shipments of these types of materials are very rare since transportation to the Yucca Mountain Repository in Nevada is not being conducted at this time. In an effort to establish the known levels of exposure to the materials in question, FRA obtained exposure information from one of the Class I railroads that has been conducting exposure monitoring during shipments of SNF materials. In addition, FRA reviewed reports of exposure assessments conducted in foreign locations where transportation by rail is occurring more frequently. Both of these sources indicate that the different classes of workers identified in the mandate were found to have levels of exposure significantly lower than those expected, and also significantly lower than the radiation exposure dose limits established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 1910.1096. The data presented in this report include theoretical predictions of potential exposure to radiation, as well as real-world exposure assessments in the United States and two European countries. Both the theoretical findings and the real-world experience indicate that potential and actual exposures are well below the currently established permissible levels. All of the current regulatory permissible levels have been established recognizing the importance of the “as low as reasonably achievable” principles in minimizing exposures. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) does not believe that any regulatory action is necessary at this time to further protect railroad employees from unsafe exposure to radiation during the transportation of radioactive materials.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Aug 2012 16:01:14 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1146860</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Interaction between BaCO3 and OPC/BFS composite cements at 20 °C and 60 °C</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/1097887</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A BaCO3 slurry, containing radioactive 14C, is produced during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. This slurry is encapsulated in a Portland-blast furnace slag composite cement. The effect of BaCO3 on the hydration of OPC and Portland-blast furnace slag cements has been studied in this work. Samples containing a simulant BaCO3 slurry were cured for up to 720 days at 20 and 60 °C and analysed by XRD, SEM(EDX) and ICC. BaCO3 reacted with OPC to precipitate BaSO4 from a reaction between soluble sulfate and BaCO3. Calcium monocarboaluminate subsequently formed from the carbonate released. The monocarboaluminate precipitated as crystals in voids formed during hydration. At 60 °C in OPC, it was not identified by XRD, suggesting the phase is unstable in this system around this temperature. In the Portland-blast furnace slag cements containing BaCO3, less monocarboaluminate and BaSO4 were formed, but the hydration of BFS was promoted and monocarboaluminate was stable up to 60 °C.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:25:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/1097887</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Spent Fuel Transportation Package Response to the Baltimore Tunnel Fire Scenario</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/894474</link>
      <description><![CDATA[On July 18, 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous (non-Nuclear) materials derailed and caught fire while passing through the Howard Street railroad tunnel in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), one of the agencies responsible for ensuring the safe transportation of radioactive materials in the United States, undertook an investigation of the train derailment and fire to determine the possible regulatory implications of this particular event for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel by railroad.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:11:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/894474</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Precautionary attitudes and the acceptance of a local nuclear waste repository</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/887351</link>
      <description><![CDATA[There has been little previous research on public attitudes about precaution and their significance for risk opinions and attitudes. The present case of application is that of the siting of a repository for spent nuclear fuel, a controversial issue in most countries. Data from a representative sample of the Swedish population were collected with a mailed questionnaire, which covered risk perceptions and attitudes towards nuclear waste. A reliable unidimensional scale measuring precautionary attitudes was constructed. It was found that women were more likely to accept items expressing a precautionary attitude than were men. Precaution was related, as expected, to epistemic distrust and size of negative consequences if an accident should occur in the handling and storing of spent nuclear fuel. Epistemic trust and size of consequences contributed about equally strongly to the variance of precautionary attitude. Adding the scale to a set of explanatory variables in models of attitudes and voting intentions with regard to a repository resulted in a significantly improved power of the models. Emotional reactions emerged as important explanatory variables in accounting for precautionary attitudes, political ideology to a smaller extent. The results based on intra-sample variability were mirrored at the level of between-sample variation. Results from the two samples from municipalities where a siting was under evaluation (Oskarshamn and Östhammar) showed that respondents there were much more positive to a repository and at the same time less likely to accept pro-precautionary principle statements.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:00:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/887351</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Into the Wild Brown Yonder</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/875182</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This article describes the largest rail construction project in 77 years: the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) planned railroad to Yucca Mountain where trains will deliver radioactive waste. The rail line will run some 300 miles in a round-about loop through desolate southern Nevada, avoiding the Nevada Test and Training range where red flag military training exercises are held, as well as the secretive Area 51. The article describes the logistics of building the railroad, which will cost about $3.2 billion. Some 150 to 176 wells will need to be drilled for water along the line, and ballast will require digging at several quarries. More than three million tons of ballast, 12 sidings, and 200 bridges will be required, along with 8,000 full-time employees during the construction phase. Once completed the DOE will move 9,500 casks of spent nuclear fuel into Yucca Mountain from 121 sites in 39 states.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:07:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/875182</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Bounding Criticality Safety Analyses for Shipments of Unconfigured Spent Nuclear Fuel</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/870961</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In November 1996, a request was made to the US Department of Energy for a waiver for three shipments of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to the Savannah River Site (SRS) in the US NRC certified BMI- 1 cask (CoC 5957). Although the post-irradiation fissile mass (based on chemical assays) in each shipment was less than 800 g, a criticality safety analysis was needed because the pre-irradiation mass exceeded 800 g, the fissile material limit in the CoC. The analyses were performed on SNF consisting of aluminum-clad U(sub 3)O(sub 8), UAl(sub x), and U(sub 3)Si(sub 2) plates, fragments and pieces that had been irradiated at ORNL during the Reduced Enrichment Research and Test Reactor Program of the 1980s. The highlights of the approach used to analyze this unique SNF and the benefits of the waiver are presented in this paper.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:47:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/870961</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Need for Confirmatory Experiments on the Radioactive Source Term from Potential Sabotage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Casks</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/864048</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A technical review is presented of experiment activities and state of knowledge on air-borne, radiation source terms resulting from explosive sabotage attacks on spent reactor fuel subassemblies in shielded casks. Current assumptions about the behavior of irradiated fuel are largely based on a limited number of experimental results involving unirradiated, depleted uranium dioxide surrogate fuel. The behavior of irradiated nuclear fuel subjected to explosive conditions could be different from the behavior of the surrogate fuel, depending on the assumptions made by the evaluator. Available data indicate that these potential differences could result in errors, and possible orders-of-magnitude overestimates of aerosol dispersion and potential health effects from sabotage attacks. Furthermore, it is suggested that the current assumptions used in arriving at existing regulations for the transportation and storage of spent fuel in the U.S. are overly conservative. This, in turn, has led to potentially higher-than-needed operating expenses for those activities. A confirmatory experimental program is needed to develop a realistic correlation between source terms of irradiated fuel and unirradiated fuel. The motivations for performing the confirmatory experimental program are also presented.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:23:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/864048</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>National Conference of State Legislatures</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/863790</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The information given is based upon the correspondence and quarterly reports submitted by National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) staff to Department of Energy (DOE) and contractor personnel and review of NCSL files. Lists of the reports and newsletters produced under the cooperative agreement are attached. The subject of these reports and newsletters is related to high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel interim storage and transport.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:23:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/863790</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Multi-Canister Overpack Design Pressure Rating</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/863648</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The SNF project was directed to increase the MCO pressure rating by the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (RL) unless the action was shown to be cost prohibitive. This guidance was driven by RL's assessment that there was a need to improve margin and reduce risks associated with assumptions supporting the bounding pressure calculation for the MCO Sealing Strategy. Although more recent pressure analyses show a bounding MCO pressure of 50 psig, RL still considers it prudent to retain the pressure margin the 450 psig rating provides. This rating creates a real, clearly definable margin and significantly reduces the risk that the safety basis will be challenged.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:23:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/863648</guid>
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