Correlation of radioactive waste treatment costs and the environmental impact of waste effluents in the nuclear fuel cycle: reprocessing light-water reactor fuel. [Radiation dose commitment to human populations from radioactive effluents released to environment]

Technical Report · Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7124566· OSTI ID:7124566

Finney, B. C.; Blanco, R. E.; Dahlman, R. C.; Hill, G. S.; Kitts, F. G.; Moore, R. E.; Witherspoon, J. P.

A cost/benefit study was made to determine the cost and effectiveness of radioactive waste (radwaste) treatment systems for decreasing the release of radioactive materials from a model nuclear fuel reprocessing plant which processes light-water reactor (LWR) fuels, and to determine the radiological impact (dose commitment) of the released materials on the environment. The study is designed to assist in defining the term as low as reasonably achievable in relation to limiting the release of radioactive materials from nuclear facilities. The base case model plant is representative of current plant technology and has an annual capacity of 1500 metric tons of LWR fuel. Additional radwaste treatment systems are added to the base case plant in a series of case studies to decrease the amounts of radioactive materials released and to reduce the radiological dose commitment to the population in the surrounding area. The cost for the added waste treatment operations and the corresponding dose commitments are calculated for each case. In the final analysis, radiological dose is plotted vs the annual cost for treatment of the radwastes. The status of the radwaste treatment methods used in the case studies is discussed. Much of the technology used in the advanced cases is in an early stage of development and is not suitable for immediate use. The methodology used in estimating the costs, and the radiological doses, detailed calculations, and tabulations are presented in Appendix A and ORNL-4992. This report is a revision of the original study (ORNL/TM-4901).

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26; NRC-INA-40-10-01-01-0
• OSTI ID: 7124566
• Report Number(s): ORNL/NUREG/TM-6; TRN: 77-006722
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
COST
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
DOSE COMMITMENTS
RADIATION DOSES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
FUEL CYCLE
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
DOSES
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
POPULATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTORS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
560161* - Radionuclide Effects
Kinetics
& Toxicology- Man
053000 - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects