The constructive use of heat in an unsaturated tuff repository
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
By designing the engineered barrier system in an unsaturated tuff repository to constructively use heat, the waste containers can be kept dry for hundreds of years. Without water, the aqueous processes that release and transport radionuclides do not operate. In the plans of most international programs, waste is cooled prior to disposal in granite or salt. For these rocks there are technical issues favoring reduced heat. Recently, it has been suggested that the US Program adopt a strategy of cooling nuclear waste prior to disposal. This paper reviews technical issues associated with the role of heat in an unsaturated tuff repository and concludes that the overall effect of heat in such a setting appears to be beneficial to waste isolation.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, IL (United States); American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 145652
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-910435--Vol.2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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