A comparative study of radioactive waste emplacement configurations

Conference · Mon Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:59789

Scully, L W; Brasier, R I; Gram, H F; Wheeler, M L

Three waste emplacement configurations have been evaluated in the development of a repository design for the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations Project. The evaluation considers a unit cell containing 1,000 canisters of spent fuel, configured in various ways to assist in identifying a waste emplacement method that is dependable, cost-effective, and safe. Five categories of factors affected by the emplacement configuration are evaluated against seven criteria. Each configuration results in significantly different drift layouts and dimensions which, in turn, affect the volume of mining and drilling, the dissipation of heat, ventilation requirements, cost, worker hazards, environmental impact, and resource commitments. The evaluation showed that further development of the self-shielded package concept is not warranted. Horizontal emplacement arrays offer significant advantages over vertical emplacement arrays, and the development of prototype equipment for horizontal emplacement is clearly justified. Vertical emplacement has been examined in a number of earlier studies, and it is recommended that further work in this area be delayed until the technology for horizontal emplacement can be developed to a state comparable with the existing technology for vertical emplacement.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
• OSTI ID: 59789
• Report Number(s): CONF-840307--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONFIGURATION
CONTAINERS
CONTAINMENT
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
EFFICIENCY
EMPLACEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
NEVADA TEST SITE
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SHIELDING
SPENT FUEL CASKS
TUFF
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
Yucca Mountain Project