Release rates from partitioning and transmutation waste packages
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
Partitioning the actinides in light-water reactor spent fuel and transmuting them in actinide-burning liquid-metal reactors has been proposed as a potential method for reducing the public risks from geologic disposal of nuclear waste. As a first step towards quantifying the benefits for waste disposal of actinide burning, we have calculated the release rates of key radionuclides from waste packages resulting from actinide burning, and compare them with release rates from LWR spent fuel destined for disposal at the potential repository at Yucca Mountain. The wet-drip water-contact mode has been used. Analytic methods and parameter values are very similar to those used for assessing Yucca Mountain as a potential repository. Once released, the transport characteristics of radionuclides will be largely determined by site geology. For the most important nuclides such as I-129 and {Tc}-99, which are undiminished by actinide-burning reactors, it is not surprising that actinide burning offers little reduction in releases. For important actinides such as Np-237 and Pu isotopes, which are reduced in inventory, the releases are not reduced because the release rates are proportional to solubility, rather than inventory.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 10128868
- Report Number(s):
- LBL-31255; ON: DE92009135
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Dec 1991
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CONTAINERS
PERFORMANCE
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
TRANSMUTATION
SPENT FUELS
FAST REACTORS
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
TECHNETIUM 99
IODINE 129
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
PYROCHEMICAL REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
052002
052001
WASTE DISPOSAL AND STORAGE
WASTE PROCESSING