A study has been performed to examine the contingencies that could be pursued by the Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) for shipping spent fuel beginning in 1998. OCRWM`s current plan is to initiate operations using early production units of Initiative I truck and rail/barge casks that are presently being designed. Contingencies to this plan were considered in case some unforeseen event occurs that precludes the Initiative I casks from entering into service early in 1998 in sufficient quantities (both numbers and types) to satisfy DOE`s shipping needs. Specifically, the study addressed the potential availability of cask systems, selected several cask usage scenarios, determined the requirements for casks under these scenarios, generically assessed different strategies for acquiring casks or the use of casks, and generically assessed cask fabrication capabilities. Issues concerning both domestic and foreign resources were addressed with a focus on the first five years of Federal Waste Management System (FWMS) operation.