Actinide partitioning-transmutation program final report. VI. Short-term risk analysis of reprocessing, refabrication, and transportation: appendix
The Chemical Technology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has prepared a set of documents that evaluate a Partitioning-Transmutation (PT) fuel cycle relative to a Reference cycle employing conventional fuel-material recovery methods. The PT cycle uses enhanced recovery methods so that most of the long-lived actinides are recycled to nuclear power plants and transmuted to shorter-lived materials, thereby reducing the waste toxicity. This report compares the two fuel cycles on the basis of the short-term radiological and nonradiological risks they present to the public and to workers. The accidental radiological risk to the public is analyzed by estimating the probabilities of sets of accidents; the consequences are calculated using the CRAC code appropriately modified for the material composition. Routine radiological risks to the public are estimated from the calculated release amounts; the effects are calculated using the CRAC code. Radiological occupational risks are determined from prior experience, projected standards, and estimates of accident risk. Nonradiological risks are calculated from the number of personnel involved, historical experience, and epidemiological studies. The result of this analysis is that the short-term risk of PT is 2.9 times greater than that of the Reference cycle, primarily due to the larger amount of industry. This conclusion is strongly dominated by the nonradiological risk, which is about 150 times greater than the radiological risk. The absolute risk as estimated for the fuel cycle portions considered in this report is 0.91 fatalities/GWe-year for the PT cycle and 0.34 fatalities/GWe-year for the Reference cycle. This should be compared with Inhaber's estimate of 1.5 for nuclear and 150 for coal. All of the risks assumed here are associated with the production of one billion watts of electricity (GWe) per year.
- Research Organization:
- Science Applications, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- OSTI ID:
- 5277703
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/Sub-80/31048/1; SAI-099-78-PA; TRN: 80-011220
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
RECYCLING
TRANSMUTATION
FUEL CYCLE
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
RISK ASSESSMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
ACCIDENTS
C CODES
FABRICATION
HEALTH HAZARDS
MAN
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ELEMENTS
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SEPARATION PROCESSES
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