Alternative disposal options for transuranic waste
- Idaho National Engineering Lab., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Three alternative concepts are proposed for the final disposal of stored and retrieved buried transuranic waste. These proposed options answer criticisms of the existing U.S. Department of Energy strategy of directly disposing of stored transuranic waste in deep, geological salt formations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The first option involves enhanced stabilization of stored waste by thermal treatment followed by convoy transportation and internment in the existing WIPP facility. This concept could also be extended to retrieved buried waste with proper permitting. The second option involves in-state, in situ internment using an encapsulating lens around the waste. This concept applies only to previously buried transuranic waste. The third option involves sending stored and retrieved waste to the Nevada Test Site and configuring the waste around a thermonuclear device from the U.S. or Russian arsenal in a specially designed underground chamber. The thermonuclear explosion would transmute plutonium and disassociate hazardous materials while entombing the waste in a national sacrifice area.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Coll. of Engineering and Mines; New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States); Waste-Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC), Las Cruces, NM (United States); US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-76ID01570
- OSTI ID:
- 111757
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940225-Vol.1; TRN: 95:021852
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management `94: working towards a cleaner environment, Tucson, AZ (United States), 27 Feb - 3 Mar 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Technology and programs for Radioactive Waste Management and Environmental Restoration. Volume 1; Post, R.G. [ed.] [Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States). Coll. of Engineering and Mines]; PB: 814 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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