Effect of Rod Consolidation on Spent Fuel Disposal Costs

Conference · Sun Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:5154318

O'Brien, P. D. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Laboratory (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The US Dept. of Energy (DOE) plans for the management of spent power reactor fuel are based on the assumption that individual fuel rods may be removed from the fuel assemblies and consolidated in close-packed arrays, thus reducing the number of waste containers to be disposed of. The reasoning is that it may cost less to develop, build, and operate the facilities and equipment required for consolidation than it would to buy, load, and emplace the extra containers required for the disposal of intact fuel assemblies. In its role supporting the DOE's Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) project, Sandia National Laboratories has assessed the cost effectiveness of consolidation at a repository being considered for location in the tuff deposits at Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nevada. For this study, it was assumed that all spent fuel is shipped to the repository as intact fuel assemblies. Costs were compared for two basic disposal options, one based on at-repository consolidation, the other based on disposal of intact fuel assemblies. For both options, mining, drilling, and emplacement costs were estimated for two emplacement configurations - single containers in vertical boreholes, and multiple containers in long, horizontal boreholes.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratory (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• OSTI ID: 5154318
• Report Number(s): CONF-860610-Summs.
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Journal Volume: 52
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210100* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
210200 -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
ACCIDENTS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONFIGURATION
COST
CRITICALITY
Cost Comparisions
ECONOMICS
FUEL ASSEMBLY DISMANTLING
MANAGEMENT
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
REACTORS
SAFETY
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
STORAGE
Spent Power Reactor Fuel Management
Study
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS