Gaseous release of carbon-14: Why the high level waste regulations should be changed
The high-level nuclear waste regulations pertaining to gaseous release of carbon-14 from a repository should be changed to allow greater release, for several reasons. Some of them are as follows. First, the total amount of carbon-14 that would be placed in a repository is small compared to that produced naturally in the atmosphere by cosmic rays. Second, the dose that would result to an individual from total release of repository carbon-14 would be very small compared to that from natural radiation sources and would be well below the ``Below Regulatory Concern`` criterion. Third, the limits on gaseous carbon-14 release from a repository have been set unreasonably low compared to the limits set for carbon-14 release from other fuel cycle facilities. Fourth, the additional cost for waste packages to attempt to meet the regulations for carbon-14 release would likely be of the order of a billion dollars or more, too high to be justified by the small reduction in dose that might result. 32 refs.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 138122
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-104763; CONF-910435-88; ON: DE91013580; TRN: 91:019320
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. annual American Nuclear Society (ANS) international high level radioactive waste management conference, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 28 Apr - 3 May 1991; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1991
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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