Economic analysis of waste management alternatives for reprocessing wastes

Conference · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:7124927

McKee, R W; Clark, L L; Daling, P M; Nesbitt, J F; Swanson, J L

This study describes the results of a cost analysis of a broad range of alternatives for management of reprocessing wastes that would require geologic repository disposal. The intent was to identify cost-effective alternatives and the costs of potential repository performance requirements. Four integrated treatment facility alternatives for transuranic (TRU) wastes are described and compared. These include no treatment, compaction, incineration, and hulls melting. The advantages of reducing high-level wastes (HLW) volume are also evaluated as are waste transportation alternatives and several performance-related alternatives for emplacing waste in a basalt repository. Results show (1) that system costs for disposal of reprocessing waste are likely to be higher than those for disposal of spent fuel; (2) that volume reduction is cost-effective for both remote-handled (RH) TRU wastes and HLW, and that rail transport for HLW is more cost-effective than truck transport; (3) that coemplacement of RH-TRU wastes with HLW does not have a large cost advantage in a basalt repository; and (4) that, relative to performance requirements, the cost impact for elimination of combustibles is about 5%, long-lived containers for RH-TRU wastes can increase repository costs 10% to 20%, and immediate backfill compared to delayed backfill (bentonite/basalt) around the HLW canisters would increase repository costs up to 10% or overall system costs up to about 5%. 13 references, 4 figures, 12 tables.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 7124927
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-11714; CONF-840307-34; ON: DE84011872
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

051000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
052001 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
BASALT
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
COMPACTING
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
IGNEOUS ROCKS
LAND TRANSPORT
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MELTING
OXIDATION
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RAIL TRANSPORT
ROAD TRANSPORT
ROCKS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TRANSPORT
VOLCANIC ROCKS
VOLUME
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES