Effects of actinide burning on waste disposal at Yucca Mountain

Conference · Thu Oct 31 23:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:7067007

Hirschfelder, J; Chambre, P L; Lee, W W.L.; Pigford, T H; Sadeghi, M M ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley (United States)

Partitioning the actinides in spent fuel and transmuting them in actinide-burning liquid-metal reactors (ALMRs) is a potential method of reducing public risks from the geologic disposal of nuclear waste. In this paper, the authors present a comparison of radionuclide releases from burial at Yucca Mountain of spent fuel and of ALMR wastes. Two waste disposal schemes are considered. In each, the heat generation of the wastes at emplacement is 9.88 {times} 10{sup 7} W, the maximum for the repository. In the first scheme, the repository contains 86,700 tonnes of initial heavy metal (IHM) of light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel. In the second scheme, all current LWRs operate for a 40-yr lifetime, producing a total of 84,000 tonnes IHM of spent fuel. This spent fuel is treated using a pyrochemical process in which 98.4% of the uranium and 99.8% of the neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium are extracted and fabricated into ALMR fuel, with the reprocessing wastes destined for the repository. The ALMR requires this fuel for its startup and first two reloads; thereafter, it is self-sufficient. Spent ALMR fuel is also pyrochemically reprocessed: 99.9% of the transuranics is recovered and recycled into ALMR fuel, and the wastes are placed in the repository. Thus, in the second scheme, the repository contains the wastes from reprocessing all of the LWR spent fuel plus the maximum amount of ALMR reprocessing wastes allowed in the repository based on its heat generation limit.

• OSTI ID: 7067007
• Report Number(s): CONF-911107--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 64; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BWR TYPE REACTORS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EMPLACEMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL MANAGEMENT
FUELS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IODINE 129
IODINE ISOTOPES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
MOUNTAINS
NEPTUNIUM 239
NEPTUNIUM ISOTOPES
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OPERATION
POWER REACTORS
PROCESSING
PUBLIC HEALTH
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTOR OPERATION
REACTOR START-UP
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
RISK ASSESSMENT
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPENT FUELS
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
START-UP
TECHNETIUM 99
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
THERMAL REACTORS
TRANSMUTATION
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOI
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
YUCCA MOUNTAIN