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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
	Office of Public Affairs	Telephone: 301/415-8200
	Washington, DC 20555-001	E-mail: opa@nrc.gov
	Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

MEETING SCHEDULED SEPTEMBER 13 IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND ON SAFETY OF SPENT FUEL SHIPPING CASKS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a meeting September 13 to obtain further public input into its proposed update of a 1987 study that examined the adequacy of spent nuclear fuel transportation casks to withstand severe accidents. The meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the agency's Two White Flint North building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. Similar meetings were held last month in Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nevada.

The NRC is reexamining the safety of spent fuel shipping containers for several reasons, including the possible increase in shipments if a high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain is licensed. The NRC will focus on those licensing issues most important to safety.

The NRC will also present a paper which describes issues to be considered in any new spent fuel package performance study, and will discuss a technical report and draft brochure on risk assessment entitled, "Reexamination of Spent Fuel Shipment Risk Estimates,"(NUREG/CR-6672). Interested parties are invited to comment on the issues paper and a draft version of the brochure, copies of which are available at http://ttd.sandia.gov/nrc/modal.htm on the web. The technical report is available at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/NUREGS/CR6672/index.html

Comments on both documents should be submitted by September 29 to Robert Temps by mail at the Spent Fuel Project Office, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001, or by telephone at 301-415-2552 (e-mail: rrt@nrc.gov).

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