Welcome to the CSG Midwestern Radioactive Materials Transportation Committee Update. Below are links and summaries of several important happenings from the last few weeks. Please don't hesitate to contact Lisa (920/458-5910) or Sarah (630/925-1922) with any questions or concerns about any of these issues.

Shipper/Carrier Database

During the state fees roundtable discussion at the committee's Jefferson City meeting, members discussed the potential benefits of having a database of radioactive material shipper and carrier information. In particular, states without fee programs thought it would be helpful to understand exactly who is shipping what through the region. Several fee program states have provided shipper and carrier contact information and Sarah compiled it into a database. The information can be organized into various formats, including alphabetical listings, by state, by permit type, etc.

Though not all states were able to provide the same level of detail, the reports may nonetheless provide valuable information to the states, particularly those considering fee programs. If you are interested in viewing this information, please check out the links below for samples and contact Sarah at 630-925-1922 or swochos@csg.org for additional customized reports.

Click here for an example of an alphabetical list of shippers.

Click here for an example of a list of carriers by permit type.

Click here for the Jefferson City meeting summary.

Click here for information on Midwestern state fees.

Prospective Shipments Report Gets Personal

At the fall 2005 committee meeting in Okemos, MI, the committee first discussed the idea of revising DOE's Prospective Shipment Report (PSR) to include more detailed and accurate information on DOE's shipments of radioactive waste. The PSR shows likely shipments throughout the country over the following six months and is sent to the potentially affected states. In Okemos, the committee discussed the utility of the PSR and recommended to DOE staff possible improvements, including the addition of contact information and fact sheets on the shipments. DOE has not adopted the committee's suggested changes. As a result, at the Jefferson City committee meeting members agreed that CSG Midwest should produce detailed, state-specific reports as part of our cooperative agreement with DOE. Lisa and Sarah are putting together personalized versions of the most recent PSR as a test and will distribute them soon. If the states find these personalized documents beneficial, we will continue to produce and distribute them on a regular basis.

In related news, DOE recently decided to remove upcoming spent nuclear fuel shipments from the most recent PSR. DOE has taken the stance that spent nuclear fuel shipments cannot be listed on the PSR because of the presence of safeguards information. This argument is not valid given the limited information provided on the PSR. The removal of the spent nuclear fuel shipments from the PSR also diminishes the utility of the document as a planning tool for the states. In response, Lisa has drafted a rationale for putting spent nuclear fuel shipments back on the PSR, which is available here. The other regional groups are also concerned about this and the document has been sent to them for comments. The committee will discuss this issue and the rationale at the Columbus committee meeting.

Click here the minutes from the Okemos committee meeting.

Click here for the minutes from the Jefferson City committee meeting.

Click here for the sample PSR the committee sent to DOE.

Section 180(c) Draft Comments

The 180(c) Work Group has finished its review of the DOE's Federal Register notice on Section 180(c) implementation and has prepared some initial comments for the committee to review.  Committee members should have received an email from Lisa with those draft comments on September 10th, but they are linked below for your convenience.  Committee members should provide feedback on the draft comments by September 24th.  In the meantime, if you have any questions about the 180(c) policy and procedures, don't hesitate to call Lisa or Sarah.  

Click here for the 180(c) Federal Register notice.

Thanks for reading! Look for the next issue in two weeks!

Sincerely,
Lisa Janairo and Sarah Wochos
Committee Staff