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Title: Review of the EPA`s radionuclide release analyses from LLW disposal trenches used in support of proposed dose limits in 40 CFR 193

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10126590· OSTI ID:10126590

The April 1989 draft EPA standard for low-level waste (LLW) disposal, 40 CFR 193, would require disposal site performance to satisfy very stringent dose-limit criteria. The EPA suggests that these limits can be achieved by relying extensively on waste solidification before disposal. The EPA justifies the achievability of the proposed criteria based on performance assessment analyses in the general context of trench burial of the LLW. The core models implemented in those analyses are codified in the EPA`s PRESTO family of codes. Because a key set of models for predicting potential releases are the leach-and-transport models from a disposal trench, these have been reviewed for completeness and applicability to trench disposal methods. The overall conclusion of this review is that the generic analyses performed by the EPA are not sufficiently comprehensive to support the proposed version of 40 CFR 193. More rigorous analyses may find the draft standard criteria to be unattainable.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
10126590
Report Number(s):
BNL-52314; ON: DE92009019
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Nov 1991
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English