TY - JOUR TI - Extreme scenarios for nuclear waste repositories AB - Two extreme scenarios for release of radioactive waste have been constructed. In the first, a volcanic eruption releases 1 km2 of an underground nuclear waste repository, while in the second, waste enters the drinking water reservoir of a major city. With pessimistic assumptions, upper bounds on the number of cancers due to radiation are calculated. In the volcano scenario, the effects of the water are smaller than the effects of natural radioactivity in the volcanic dust if the delay between emplacement and eruption exceeds 2000 yr. The consequences of the waste in drinking water depend on the survival time of the canisters and the rate of leaching of the nuclides from the waste matrix. For a canister life of 400 yr and a leach time of 6300 yr the cancer rate in the affected area would increase by 25%. AU - "Brown, M J" AU - "Crouch, E" KW - "11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS" KW - "12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES" KW - "HUMAN POPULATIONS" KW - "RADIATION HAZARDS" KW - "RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES" KW - "RISK ASSESSMENT" KW - "DRINKING WATER" KW - "ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY" KW - "FORECASTING" KW - "LEACHING" KW - "RADIATION DOSES" KW - "RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS" KW - "RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL" KW - "RADIOACTIVE WASTES" KW - "UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL" KW - "VOLCANOES" KW - "AEROSOLS" KW - "COLLOIDS" KW - "DISPERSIONS" KW - "DISSOLUTION" KW - "DOSES" KW - "HAZARDS" KW - "HEALTH HAZARDS" KW - "HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS" KW - "MANAGEMENT" KW - "MATERIALS" KW - "NUCLEAR FACILITIES" KW - "OXYGEN COMPOUNDS" KW - "POPULATIONS" KW - "RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS" KW - "SEPARATION PROCESSES" KW - "SOLS" KW - "WASTE DISPOSAL" KW - "WASTE MANAGEMENT" KW - "WASTES" KW - "WATER" KW - "054000* - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety" KW - "052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage" DO - https://doi.org/ UR - PB - CY - United Kingdom PY - 1982 DA - 1982-09-01 LA - English J2 - [] VL - 43:3 C1 - Environmental System Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA C2 - C3 - C4 - C5 - L3 - Journal Name: Health Phys.; (United Kingdom); Journal Volume: 43:3 ER -