Battle Mountain Impact Report

Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel to the Proposed Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

If a high-level waste repository opens at Yucca Mountain, a number of rail and truck shipments of nuclear waste are expected to pass through Lander County and the Town of Battle Mountain. These shipments of nuclear waste through Lander County would lead to a radiation dose to the public even if the transport is incident-free, because no shielding material can reduce direct gamma radiation by 100%. As a result, residents, drivers, pedestrians and workers will get a radiation dose, which depends on the recipient’s proximity and duration to the passing radiation source.

In case of a severe accident involving a nuclear shipment, the dose to individuals and the population would be much higher. In contrast to incident-free transportation, such an accident would cause both acute and long-term exposures, because radioactive particulates would be dispersed in the environment and continue to lead to radiation exposures. Read the full report.