Release rates from partitioning and transmutation waste packages

Technical Report · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5789383· OSTI ID:5789383

Lee, W W.L. ^[1]; Choi, Jor-Shan ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

Partitioning the actinides in light-water reactor spent fuel and transmuting them in actinide-burning liquid-metal reactors has been proposed as a potential method for reducing the public risks from geologic disposal of nuclear waste. As a first step towards quantifying the benefits for waste disposal of actinide burning, we have calculated the release rates of key radionuclides from waste packages resulting from actinide burning, and compare them with release rates from LWR spent fuel destined for disposal at the potential repository at Yucca Mountain. The wet-drip water-contact mode has been used. Analytic methods and parameter values are very similar to those used for assessing Yucca Mountain as a potential repository. Once released, the transport characteristics of radionuclides will be largely determined by site geology. For the most important nuclides such as I-129 and {Tc}-99, which are undiminished by actinide-burning reactors, it is not surprising that actinide burning offers little reduction in releases. For important actinides such as Np-237 and Pu isotopes, which are reduced in inventory, the releases are not reduced because the release rates are proportional to solubility, rather than inventory.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 5789383
• Report Number(s): LBL-31255; ON: DE92009135
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CONTAINERS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FUELS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IODINE 129
IODINE ISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PERFORMANCE
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
PYROCHEMICAL REPROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPENT FUELS
TECHNETIUM 99
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
TRANSMUTATION
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOI
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES