A Multi-objective Optimization Framework for Supporting Decisions for Hazardous Waste Transportation and Disposal.

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Large quantities of hazardous materials are transported and distributed annually throughout the world. Shippers, carriers, package makers, freight forwarders, consignees, insurers, and governments are just a few of the parties involved in securely transporting hazardous commodities from their origins to their destinations. With different priorities and viewpoints involved from various parties, hazmat transportation is a typical multi-objective optimization problem which makes it further complicated to solve these problems as there is a high level of public concern surrounding hazardous material transport problems due to the risks involved. Hence, it is fundamentally important to design and operate hazardous (nuclear) waste processes in a way that is safe, efficient, and economical. Our goal is to develop effective and innovative optimization models that handle these three main objectives simultaneously; the transportation, storage and handling cost, the environmental cost, e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, related to transportation, and risks related to transport, e.g. handling and storage of the waste. The multi-objective and dynamic character of the challenge at hand necessitates the creation of efficient algorithms capable of producing high-quality three-dimensional efficient frontiers in a reasonable time. Our research will explore and develop mathematical models and heuristic algorithms problems of this type.