Criteria derived for geologic disposal concepts.
- Nuclear Engineering Division
In the United States, the geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste is planned for the Yucca Mountain repository. Disposal of these hazardous nuclear wastes may be constrained by at least three major factors: (1) Peak dose rate for repository releases to satisfy regulatory limits; (2) Temperature limits for parts of the repository system to provide greater assurance on long-term performance predictions; and (3) Volume of the waste materials. For the current planned disposal, the loading of the Yucca Mountain repository is constrained by the temperature limits due to the high decay heat from the spent nuclear fuel. Estimates of peak dose rate have been calculated, but there are no regulations in place at this time to judge the acceptability of the planned waste disposal. There are spaces between the waste packages in order to limit the linear heat load in the emplacement drifts (tunnels), so waste package volume is not an issue. The use of space in a geologic repository like Yucca Mountain can be greatly improved by processing spent nuclear fuel and recycling the transuranic elements The amount of improvement is controlled by the separation efficiencies for spent fuel processing. Increasing the drift loading by a factor of about 100 can be achieved while satisfying thermal limits with essentially no change in the estimated peak dose rate as compared to direct disposal of spent fuel. Waste form volume appears to be a secondary issue, with less than optimal waste form loading compensated by repository design changes while still satisfying peak dose rate and thermal limits. Continuous recycling of the recovered transuranics is essential, no direct disposal of spent fuel and transuranics remain in the fuel cycle. The need for additional repository space or a second repository can be delayed for at least a century, probably much longer.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1007390
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/NE/CP-119283
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
ACTINIDES
DESIGN
DOSE RATES
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL CYCLE
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERFORMANCE
POSITIONING
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RECYCLING
REGULATIONS
SPENT FUELS
TRANSMUTATION
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE FORMS
WASTES
YUCCA MOUNTAIN