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Release rates in a salt repository by diffusion

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6367596· OSTI ID:6367596
In a recent analysis, we predicted extremely small brine migration velocities after emplacement of waste packages. Therefore it is expected that mass transfer of radioactive species dissolved in the brine is likely to be controlled by molecular diffusion. Here we apply the analytic solutions for the rate of diffusive mass transfer of dissolved species through a porous medium predict radionuclide release from waste packages in salt. This analysis shows that for the parameter values selected here, and for containment times of over 300 years, release rates from individual waste packages in sale can meet the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (USNRC) performance objective for the engineered barrier system. If many waste packages are actually exposed to brine much sooner than 300 years after emplacement, it will be difficult to meet the release rate for /sup 137/Cs, calculated from the USNRC regulation. In this report we present the analytic solutions and some numerical illustrations of the molecular diffusion analysis. We also compare the results with a different type of diffusion analysis in the Environmental Assessments for the potential repository sites in salt. 21 refs., 4 figs.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
6367596
Report Number(s):
LBL-25767; UCB-NE-4129; ON: DE89013400
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English