ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
May 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
Massimo Zucchetti
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 1501-1505
Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963162
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The passive safety strategy for fusion can be summarized as three options: Inventory-based passive safety, Mobility-based passive safety, and Confinement-based passive safety. The determination of the dose limits for the public must follow a risk-based approach, where “risk” is the product of frequency times consequence. Ignitor is a high magnetic field tokamak, aimed at studying the physics of ignited plasmas. The site chosen for construction is the nuclear site of Saluggia (Northern Italy). The safety goal for Ignitor is the classification as a mobility-based passively safe machine. This choice is based on several assessments, and application of the ALARA principle. Evaluation of plant inventories and operation, and experience from other fusion machines have lead to conclusion that the above limits are the lowest reasonably achievable. The limits, however stringent, to not present a burden to plant operations. A comparison of Ignitor and ITER risk-based curves is finally carried out.