Review of the Swedish KBS-II plan for disposal of spent nuclear fuel

Book · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:6603599

This review is confined to an evaluation of the adequacy of the technical data base to support conclusions in the KBS-II Plan regarding two key elements of the proposed disposal system: (1) the long-term stability of copper canisters enclosed in a bentonite overpack under a specified range of physical and chemical conditions, and (2) the availability of a deep geological disposal site with the requisite dimensions, stability, and groundwater properties and with the necessary stability to maintain these characteristics. These two elements, in the opinion of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management and the Subcommittee, are critical to a judgment regarding the long-term functioning of the waste isolation system. Excluded from the study is any consideration of costs, proposed facilities for pre-burial handling of the waste, alternative or better methods of disposal, radiation dose calculations, or the wisdom of disposal of economically valuable copper-encased spent fuel rods. The review is in large part a subjective evaluation by members of the Subcommittee of the quality and completeness of the Swedish research and the logic relating the research to the conclusions drawn. The KBS-II Plan, like some other waste-isolation plans, uses a sequence of engineered barriers and natural geologic barriers to limit the escape of radionuclides. The plan is unique in placing major reliance on an engineered barrier consisting of thick-walled copper canisters surrounded by overpacks of bentonite clay. In the Subcommittee's judgment the effectiveness of this barrier to contain the radionuclides in spent fuel rods for hundreds of thousands of years has been adequately demonstrated, and the required properties for the less easily verifiable geologic barriers are therefore less stringent than in other disposal plans.

• OSTI ID: 6603599
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
053000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290600 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
BACKFILLING
BENTONITE
CASKS
CHEMISTRY
CONTAINERS
COPPER
CORROSION RESISTANCE
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERED SAFETY SYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EUROPE
EVALUATION
FABRICATION
FUELS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROLOGY
INORGANIC ION EXCHANGERS
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
METALS
MINERALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
REACTOR MATERIALS
REVIEWS
SCANDINAVIA
SPENT FUEL CASKS
SPENT FUELS
SWEDEN
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER
WESTERN EUROPE