Near-field interactions
To approach the subject of high level nuclear waste disposal in deep ocean sediments it is convenient to differentiate between processes occurring in a near field environment, that region arbitrarily defined as lying between the canister surface and the maximum extent of the 100/sup 0/C isotherm, and those which occur at lower temperatures and beyond the influence of intense radiation. A variety of considerations related to the chemistry of seawater-sediment mixtures suggests that about 200/sup 0/C is the maximum temperature advisable in the near field environment. Results of a coupled fluid flow - thermal transport computer model show the maximum convection rate adjacent to a canister having surface temperature of 200/sup 0/C is 0.3 m/100 years, and that this velocity is halved with the passage of each thermal half life of the assumed waste form (30 years). Based on this convective model, it follows that compounds formed in the near field environment during the first thousand years following emplacement would be restricted to a region lying within two meters of the canister surface.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5375850
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-79-0406C; ON: DE82011303; TRN: 82-011518
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
HEAT TRANSFER
MARINE DISPOSAL
WASTE-ROCK INTERACTIONS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
SEDIMENTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTAINERS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FLOW MODELS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
ISOTHERM
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
SEA BED
SEAWATER
SEDIMENT-WATER INTERFACES
ENERGY TRANSFER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INTERFACES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
520500 - Environment
Aquatic- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)