CLADDING DEGRADATION COMPONENT IN WASTE FORM DEGRADATION MODEL IN TSPA-SR

Technical Report · Fri Jan 19 00:00:00 EST 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/860279· OSTI ID:860279

Siegmann, E; Rechard, R P

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared a total system performance assessment for a site recommendation (TSPA-SR), if suitable, on Yucca Mountain for disposal of radioactive waste. Discussed here is the Cladding Degradation Component of the Waste Form Degradation Model (WF Model), of the TSPA-SR. The Cladding Degradation Component determines the degradation rate of the Zircaloy cladding on commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF) and, thereby, the CSNF matrix exposed and radioisotopes available for dissolution in any water present. Since the 1950s, most CSNF has been clad with less than 1 mm (usually between 600 and 900 {micro}m) of Zircaloy, a zirconium alloy. Zircaloy cladding is not a designed engineered barrier of the Yucca Mountain disposal system, but rather is an existing characteristic of the CSNF that is important to determining the release rate of radioisotopes once the waste package (WP) has breached. Although studies of cladding degradation from fluoride [F] began at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as early as 1984, cladding as a characteristic of the waste was not considered in TSPAs, conducted in the early 1990s. However, enough information on cladding performance has accumulated in the literature such that cladding was considered in 1993 when examining the performance of DOE spent nuclear (DSNF) and most recently in TSPA for the viability assessment (TSPA-VA). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently uses cladding data as the basis for extending the period of wet storage, for licensing dry storage facilities, and for licensing shipping casks for CNSF.

• Research Organization: Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: NA
• OSTI ID: 860279
• Report Number(s): NA; MOL.20010313.0007 DC#27929; TRN: US0600576
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CASKS
DISSOLUTION
DRY STORAGE
FLUORIDES
LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY
LICENSING
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERFORMANCE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOISOTOPES
RECOMMENDATIONS
VIABILITY
WASTE FORMS
WASTES
WATER
WET STORAGE
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
ZIRCALOY
ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS