Retrievability: strategy for compliance demonstration. Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations Project
In accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982, Federal agencies have developed regulations to ensure that radioactive-waste disposal operations will not endanger the public health and safety or the environment. Included in these regulations is the requirement to maintain, as an added measure of assurance, the option to retrieve emplaced radioactive waste. Consequently, a repository design must include retrieval as a planned contingency. The Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) project is investigating the feasibility of locating a repository for radioactive waste disposal in the tuff formations at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. The target horizon is located in the unsaturated zone at an average subsurface depth of, approximately, 300 m, in a formation of welded tuff. Two emplacement options are currently being considered for the disposal of waste packages: horizontal and vertical configurations. In the vertical configuration, a single package is emplaced in a 7.6-m-deep vertical hole drilled into the floor of emplacement drifts. For the horizontal option, up to 34 waste packages are emplaced in each horizontal borehole drilled into the wall of the emplacement drift. The horizontal boreholes are up to 200 m long. Both options require unique equipment and operations for achieving compliance with the retrievability requirement. This paper presents the strategy which defines the activities required for demonstrating compliance with the retrievability requirement. In support of this strategy, current regulatory requirements, repository and equipment designs, expected conditions, and scenario development methods are discussed. 25 refs., 24 figs., 1 tab.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 59784
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--84-2242; ON: DE86006323
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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