Evaluating new waste form impacts on repository capacity from a total system perspective
- Office of Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Dept. of Energy, S.W., Washington DC (United States)
- Golder Associates Inc., Las Vegas NV (United States)
- Booz Allen Hamilton, Washington DC (United States)
This paper summarizes the steps that need to be taken to develop a long-term performance assessment of a repository and discusses the potential impacts on the existing performance assessment model that could result from a national decision to dispose of wastes from an advanced fuel cycle, such as that envisioned under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). The objective is to establish a common understanding of what activities would potentially need to be conducted, and why, to support the disposal of high level wastes from an advanced nuclear fuel cycle. The long-term performance of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain is currently evaluated using a methodology called Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA). The TSPA methodology can be applied to evaluate the safety of the disposal of nuclear wastes arising from GNEP technologies. The entire TSPA would need to be updated in accordance with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements for a license to accommodate GNEP wastes. The revised TSPA would have to reflect the entire repository system as configured to dispose of these wastes. Major changes in the TSPA expected from introduction of GNEP wastes would be in two areas. First, the features, events and processes (FEPs) that might affect performance of the geologic system would have to be re-evaluated considering the GNEP wastes and any corresponding changes to the repository design. The modeling hierarchy used in the TSPA would then be modified to reflect any revised FEPs and scenarios. Secondly, the input and boundary conditions of some models used in the TSPA would have to be revised based on characteristics of the GNEP nuclear wastes and any associated change to the repository design. Some new models would likely have to be developed, for example due to new waste form types. These model revisions would likely require additional data such as characteristics of new waste forms. Post-closure performance assessment should be an integral part of the GNEP program with models developing in an iterative and integrated manner. Testing, analyses, and modeling of nuclear wastes supported by GNEP should strive to meet the requirements for data and processes established by NRC regulations and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM). This rigor will assure that a revision to the post-closure safety analysis is technically defensible in a regulatory environment. Qualifying data to describe changes introduced by GNEP wastes would have to undergo the same rigor and compliance with procedures as the data collection and modeling that supports the original license application. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21290867
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-07279; TRN: US10V0193038278
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM'07: 2007 Waste Management Symposium - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 25 Feb - 1 Mar 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 13 refs
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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