A repository view of the system

Conference · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:60170

Hunter, T O

A nuclear waste repository will not receive a single, well-defined waste type from one source. The current operating design basis of 3400 MTU or equivalent annual receipt rate and 70,000 total disposal capacity places unique requirements on the transportation-repository interface at the repository. With a 70/30 truck/rail mix (by mass) approximately 2300 truck and 140 rail casks would arrive annually. Some 10,000 fuel assemblies would be processed annually by the repository surface facility and 2000 emplacement containers of spent fuel and high-level waste prepared for disposal. If spent fuel consolidation is performed at the repository, the requirements on the surface facility will be especially demanding. If spent fuel is consolidated or pre-packaged at the MRS, there will be a major impact on the specification of the transportation-repository interface. Current designs must allow for spent fuel burnups up to 60,000 MWd/MTU, spent fuel age (time from discharge) as small as 5 years, and commensurately high thermal power and radiation levels. This wide range of potential interface conditions can be accommodated in the conduct of repository design; however, early resolution of major decisions regarding the role of the MRS, the need for at-repository spent fuel consolidation, and more detailed specification of waste characteristics would allow a more cost effective and timely design to be achieved. 10 refs., 6 figs., 6 tabs.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 60170
• Report Number(s): SAND--87-2136C; CONF-870948--3; ON: DE87013711
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CONTAINERS
EMPLACEMENT
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
NEW MEXICO
PACKAGING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RECOMMENDATIONS
SPENT FUELS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Yucca Mountain Project