Review of the EPA's radionuclide release analyses from LLW disposal trenches used in support of proposed dose limits in 40 CFR 193

Technical Report · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5671231· OSTI ID:5671231

Pescatore, C; Sullivan, T M

The April 1989 draft EPA standard for low-level waste (LLW) disposal, 40 CFR 193, would require disposal site performance to satisfy very stringent dose-limit criteria. The EPA suggests that these limits can be achieved by relying extensively on waste solidification before disposal. The EPA justifies the achievability of the proposed criteria based on performance assessment analyses in the general context of trench burial of the LLW. The core models implemented in those analyses are codified in the EPA's PRESTO family of codes. Because a key set of models for predicting potential releases are the leach-and-transport models from a disposal trench, these have been reviewed for completeness and applicability to trench disposal methods. The overall conclusion of this review is that the generic analyses performed by the EPA are not sufficiently comprehensive to support the proposed version of 40 CFR 193. More rigorous analyses may find the draft standard criteria to be unattainable.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5671231
• Report Number(s): BNL-52314; ON: DE92009019
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
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COMPLIANCE
COMPUTER CODES
DISSOLUTION
DOSE LIMITS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
ISOTOPES
LEACHING
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
P CODES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY STANDARDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STANDARDS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES