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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number1 Rail Shipments of Radioactive Waste from Rocky Flats to Envirocare in Utah August 2004
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number2 Rail Shipments from Rocky Flats to Envirocare l Currently, all Rocky Flats waste is transported to offsite disposal sites by truck l Waste volumes are expected to significantly increase as demolition of the site accelerates l Shipping waste by rail will increase efficiency and safety of waste shipping operations during the final stages of the project
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number3 What is the waste material? l Mainly concrete and cinderblock building and foundation rubble containing some structural steel l Environmental media (soil) l Some remaining D&D waste l Vast majority of shipments will be less than 1nCi/g l No hazardous constituents l Expected quantity to be shipped ~17,500 - 30,000 tons l Maximum quantity ~44,000 tons
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number4 Example of non-radioactive soil, in this case being used as backfill at 903 pad, representative of the type of environmental remediation waste to be shipped via rail in Lift Liners.
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number5 Example of building rubble that will be loaded into gondola railcars for shipment to Envirocare of Utah. This rubble is from the demolition of a non-radioactive building, and is meant to be representative of what Building 776 rubble will look like.
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number6 How will waste shipping by rail be accomplished? l Waste will be packaged in a few different configurations –“Lift Liner” packages placed into gondola railcars –intermodal shipping containers placed onto flat bed railcars –Direct placement of debris material into lined gondola cars l Gondola railcars will hold ~2,700 ft 3 of waste material (90-100 tons per car) l Evaluating using gondola railcars that have rigid fiberglass protective covers bolted to the cars l Initial shipments 2-5 railcars per week, increasing to 20-40 cars per week during peak production l Total number of railcars ~300-500
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number7 Example of lift liner filled with environmental restoration media being loaded into a lined gondola rail car. The Lift Liner is a DOT rated package for shipping radioactive material.
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number8 Display of lift liners as loaded into a gondola rail car
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number9 How will waste shipping by rail be accomplished?
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number10 Example of lidded gondola style rail car to be used for loading Building 776 demolition debris.
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number11 How will the railcars be assembled? l RFCP would like to use “Unit Trains” (a train that is assembled having only one customer for all the cars in the train) l Some shipments will be sent on a “Manifest” basis –Cars are picked up by the railroad and combined with other railcars l Union Pacific will assemble trains using its rail yard north of Denver l Some siding along the route from Rocky Flats to Denver may be used as a temporary staging area for convenience of assembling the cars into trains
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number12 What routes will the trains take? l All trains will travel north from Denver to Cheyenne and then across southern Wyoming to Clive, UT l Rail routes are well established and are being used for radioactive waste shipments from other DOE and commercial sites l No rail shipments will be allowed to cross steep mountain passes
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number13 What is the schedule? l Initial shipments will commence in August 2004 l Shipping volumes will increase ~ January 2005 l Shipping will be complete ~ July 2005
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number14 What are the benefits of using rail? l Rail shipping is much more efficient for handling large quantities of bulk material l Worker safety is significantly improved l Waste can be loaded into railcars much faster, reducing the time that waste piles are exposed to the environment l One gondola car contains the equivalent of 5-7 trucks –Rail shipping of the maximum quantity will take as many as 5,000 trucks off the road l Rail shipping is more cost-effective than truck shipping –Nearly half the cost, resulting in a projected savings of $7M-$16M over the cost of truck shipping
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number15 What happens if there is an accident? l Coordination among DOE, Department of Transportation, CDPHE and Western Governors’ Association l Railroad Company notification to DOE, state, and local governments in the event of an accident l DOE will provide technical support as needed l Materials being transported are extremely low in hazard –Low-level waste (less than 1nCi/g) –No hazardous chemicals l Any waste material that escapes from a derailed car can be easily identified, contained and cleaned up –No liquids or gasses will be transported by rail; only steel, concrete and environmental media (soil) l “Regulated” shipments will contain proper marking, labeling and placarding to identify the potential hazard to first responders
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number16 Why rail shipments make sense? l Larger volumes of slightly contaminated wastes, primarily soils and building rubble are being generated at an increasing rate as demolition activities increase l Increases worker safety and efficiency of waste shipping operations l Protective of public health and the environment l Shipping by rail to Envirocare increases the efficiency and safety of the waste shipping operations l This waste is more amenable to shipping in a heavy-duty railcar vs a lighter gauge cargo container l As buildings onsite are being removed and waste sites cleaned up, there is more room to build a rail spur to the building demolition site l Rail shipping is expected to save $7M-$16M
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Rail Shipments July 2004.Page number17 How will waste shipping by rail be accomplished?
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