Transportation of used nuclear fuel is strictly regulated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Transportation containers are designed to protect the public from releases of radioactive material in the unlikely event of an accident. The NRC approves the design, fabrication, use and maintenance of shipping containers and regulates security of the spent fuel. The U.S. Department of Transportation regulates the shipping routes and transportation conveyances. Under current law, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for shipping the used fuel from nuclear power plant sites to a specially designed repository for storage. According to the NRC, over the last 40 years, thousands of shipments of commercially generated spent nuclear fuel have been made throughout the U.S. without causing any radiological releases to the environment or harm to the public.
