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U.S. Department of Energy
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Offsite radiation doses resulting from seismic events at the Yucca Mountain repository

Conference ·
OSTI ID:137783
;  [1]
  1. Bechtel National, Inc., San Francisco, CA (USA)

This paper describes a preliminary study to evaluate the offsite doses resulting from seismic events postulated to occur during the preclosure period at the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. The work reported here is part of a larger preliminary study of the costs and benefits of assigning the waste handling building (WHB) at the repository for seismic events of varying severity. During an earthquake, the quantity of radiological releases is dependent on the damage size of the structure or facility under construction. For the purpose of this study, four damage states are used: light, moderate, heavy, and total. These damage states are characterized by various degrees of spalling of concrete pieces from the walls and cracking of the walls. The spalling concrete may hit the spent fuel assemblies and cause radiological releases. The authors present the maximum total radionuclide inventory in the WHB, the quantities of radioactive material released for each damage state, the offsite doses resulting from these releases and the conclusions.

OSTI ID:
137783
Report Number(s):
CONF-890855--; ISBN 0-9623306-0-4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English