Thermal Evolution near Heat-Generating Nuclear Waste Canisters Disposed in Horizontal Drillholes
Abstract
We consider the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in horizontal holes drilled into deep, low-permeable geologic formations using directional drilling technology. Residual decay heat emanating from these waste forms leads to temperature increases within the drillhole and the surrounding host rock. The spacing of waste canisters and the configuration of the various barrier components within the horizontal drillhole can be designed such that the maximum temperatures remain below limits that are set for each element of the engineered and natural repository system. We present design calculations that examine the thermal evolution around heat-generating waste for a wide range of material properties and disposal configurations. Moreover, we evaluate alternative layouts of a monitoring system to be part of an in situ heater test that helps determine the thermal properties of the as-built repository system. A data-worth analysis is performed to ensure that sufficient information will be collected during the heater test so that subsequent model predictions of the thermal evolution around horizontal deposition holes will reliably estimate the maximum temperatures in the drillhole. The simulations demonstrate that the proposed drillhole disposal strategy can be flexibly designed to ensure dissipation of the heat generated by decaying nuclear waste.more »
- Authors:
-
[1];
- Finsterle GeoConsulting, Kensington, CA (United States)
- Deep Isolation Inc., Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Univ. of Akron, Akron, OH (United States)
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1580818
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Energies
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 1996-1073
- Publisher:
- MDPI AG
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; nuclear waste isolation; horizontal disposal drillholes; thermal period; design calculations; in situ heater test; data-worth analysis; iTOUGH2
Citation Formats
Finsterle, Stefan, Muller, Richard A., Baltzer, Rod, Payer, Joe, and Rector, James W. Thermal Evolution near Heat-Generating Nuclear Waste Canisters Disposed in Horizontal Drillholes. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.3390/en12040596.
Finsterle, Stefan, Muller, Richard A., Baltzer, Rod, Payer, Joe, & Rector, James W. Thermal Evolution near Heat-Generating Nuclear Waste Canisters Disposed in Horizontal Drillholes. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040596
Finsterle, Stefan, Muller, Richard A., Baltzer, Rod, Payer, Joe, and Rector, James W. Wed .
"Thermal Evolution near Heat-Generating Nuclear Waste Canisters Disposed in Horizontal Drillholes". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040596. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1580818.
@article{osti_1580818,
title = {Thermal Evolution near Heat-Generating Nuclear Waste Canisters Disposed in Horizontal Drillholes},
author = {Finsterle, Stefan and Muller, Richard A. and Baltzer, Rod and Payer, Joe and Rector, James W.},
abstractNote = {We consider the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in horizontal holes drilled into deep, low-permeable geologic formations using directional drilling technology. Residual decay heat emanating from these waste forms leads to temperature increases within the drillhole and the surrounding host rock. The spacing of waste canisters and the configuration of the various barrier components within the horizontal drillhole can be designed such that the maximum temperatures remain below limits that are set for each element of the engineered and natural repository system. We present design calculations that examine the thermal evolution around heat-generating waste for a wide range of material properties and disposal configurations. Moreover, we evaluate alternative layouts of a monitoring system to be part of an in situ heater test that helps determine the thermal properties of the as-built repository system. A data-worth analysis is performed to ensure that sufficient information will be collected during the heater test so that subsequent model predictions of the thermal evolution around horizontal deposition holes will reliably estimate the maximum temperatures in the drillhole. The simulations demonstrate that the proposed drillhole disposal strategy can be flexibly designed to ensure dissipation of the heat generated by decaying nuclear waste. Moreover, an in situ heater test can provide the relevant data needed to develop a reliable prediction model of repository performance under as-built conditions.},
doi = {10.3390/en12040596},
journal = {Energies},
number = 4,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 13 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Wed Feb 13 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Corrosion Performance of Engineered Barrier System in Deep Horizontal Drillholes
journal, April 2019
- Payer, Joe H.; Finsterle, Stefan; Apps, John A.
- Energies, Vol. 12, Issue 8
Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste in Deep Horizontal Drillholes
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