Impacts of new developments in partitioning and transmutation on the disposal of high-level nuclear waste in a mined geologic repository
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- J. K. Research Associates, Silver Spring, MD (United States)
- Tennessee Univ., Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
During the 1970s, the United States and other countries thoroughly evaluated the options for the safe and final disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW). The worldwide scientific community concluded that deep geologic disposal was clearly the most technically feasible alternative. They also ranked the partitioning and transmutation (P-T) of radionuclides among the least favored options. A 1982 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency summarized the key reasons for that ranking: ``Since the long-term hazards are already low, there is little incentive to reduce them further by P-T. Indeed the incremental costs of introducing P-T appear to be unduly high in relation to the prospective benefits.`` Recently, the delays encountered by the US geologic disposal program for HLW, along with advanced in the development of P-T concepts, have led some to propose P-T as a means of reducing the long-term risks from the radioactive wastes that require disposal and thus making it easier to site, license, and build a geologic repository. This study examines and evaluates the effects that introducing P-T would have on the US geologic disposal program.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 10143068
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID--109203; ON: DE92013250
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
BWR TYPE REACTORS
COST
FUEL CYCLE
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
INVENTORIES
LICENSING
PUBLIC OPINION
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REPROCESSING
RISK ASSESSMENT
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPENT FUELS
TRANSMUTATION
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
WASTE FORMS
WASTE HEAT
WASTE MANAGEMENT