The Bureau's Spent Nuclear Fuel and High Level Radioactive Waste Inspection and Escort Program ensures that the handling, storage and transport of shipments of spent nuclear fuel do not present a radiological hazard to New Jersey citizens.

Under the inspection program, trains and trucks carrying spent nuclear fuel are met at the state border or the point of origin by bureau staff and are inspected. After passing the inspection, each shipment is escorted from border to border by bureau staff and other cooperating agencies, including the New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Although spent fuel shipments do not typically currently travel through New Jersey, staff already are preparing for the time when shipments will pass through the state once a federal spent fuel repository or monitored retrievable storage facility is available.

In an effort to ensure that current Department of Energy shipments are tracked, inspected and escorted in accordance with New Jersey regulations, the bureau in 1996 obtained access to TRANSCOM, a Department of Energy sponsored satellite-based shipment tracking system.

Staff obtained the software and training necessary to utilize this state of-the-art satellite tracking system. The system allows operators to view the locations of the shipment, with approximately 15-mile accuracy, anywhere in the United States.

The system has proved invaluable for locating shipments and issuing updates for arrival times at checkpoints or inspection points. Every shipment to a monitored retrievable storage facility or a repository will have the TRANSCOM tracking ability.

The Northeast High-Level Radioactive Waste Task Force was established in February 1995 to facilitate communication, the timely flow of information, and to provide a forum for the exchange of comments and concerns regarding the transportation of high-level radioactive material in the region. The federal Department of Energy (DOE) provides funding for this group. Each of the ten Northeast states is represented by a voting member. As the most densely populated state and the home of four nuclear power plants and a major shipping port, New Jersey maintains strong, active representation on this task force. Mr. Kent Tosch, the Manager of the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, is New Jersey’s representative and has been the Co-Chairperson of this group since its inception.

Currently, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 is edging towards approval by Congress. Although the President has vowed to veto the bill, a Congressional override is possible. If this bill passes, an interim spent fuel storage site will be developed fairly quickly. This will expedite the need for regional cooperation to establish routes and emergency response training. Close cooperation between federal and state governments will be needed to agree on modes of transportation.

New Jersey representatives attended the Second Meeting of the regional Radioactive Waste Transportation Committees in December where significant progress was made in reaching consensus on defining significant mutual issues that need resolution through the DOE.