Spatial and temporal distribution of risks associated with low-level radioactive waste disposal

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6120832

Thompson, P B

The major purposes of this dissertation are to examine the economic tradeoffs which arise in the process of LLW disposal and to derive a framework within which the impact of these tradeoffs on LLW disposal policy can be analyzed. There are two distinct stages in the disposal of LLW - the transportation of the waste from sources to disposal sites and the disposal of the waste. The levels of costs and risks associated with these two stages depend on the number and location of disposal sites. Having more disposal sites results in lower transportation costs and risks but also in greater disposal costs and risks. The tradeoff between transportation costs and risks can also be viewed as a tradeoff between present and future risks. Therefore, an alteration in the spatial distribution of LLW disposal sites necessarily implies a change in the temporal distribution of risks. These tradeoffs are examined in this work through the use of a transportation model to which probabilistic radiation exposure constraints are added. Future (disposal) risks are discounted. The number and capacities of LLW disposal sites are varied in order to derive a series of system costs and corresponding expected cancers. This provides policy makers with a cost vs. cancers possibility function.

• Research Organization: Arizona Univ., Tucson (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6120832
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
290600 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
PROBABILISTIC ESTIMATION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RISK ASSESSMENT
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
TRANSPORT
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES