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Title: EBS Radionuclide Transport Abstraction

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/837137· OSTI ID:837137

The purpose of this work is to develop the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) radionuclide transport abstraction model, as directed by a written development plan (CRWMS M&O 1999a). This abstraction is the conceptual model that will be used to determine the rate of release of radionuclides from the EBS to the unsaturated zone (UZ) in the total system performance assessment-license application (TSPA-LA). In particular, this model will be used to quantify the time-dependent radionuclide releases from a failed waste package (WP) and their subsequent transport through the EBS to the emplacement drift wall/UZ interface. The development of this conceptual model will allow Performance Assessment Operations (PAO) and its Engineered Barrier Performance Department to provide a more detailed and complete EBS flow and transport abstraction. The results from this conceptual model will allow PA0 to address portions of the key technical issues (KTIs) presented in three NRC Issue Resolution Status Reports (IRSRs): (1) the Evolution of the Near-Field Environment (ENFE), Revision 2 (NRC 1999a), (2) the Container Life and Source Term (CLST), Revision 2 (NRC 1999b), and (3) the Thermal Effects on Flow (TEF), Revision 1 (NRC 1998). The conceptual model for flow and transport in the EBS will be referred to as the ''EBS RT Abstraction'' in this analysis/modeling report (AMR). The scope of this abstraction and report is limited to flow and transport processes. More specifically, this AMR does not discuss elements of the TSPA-SR and TSPA-LA that relate to the EBS but are discussed in other AMRs. These elements include corrosion processes, radionuclide solubility limits, waste form dissolution rates and concentrations of colloidal particles that are generally represented as boundary conditions or input parameters for the EBS RT Abstraction. In effect, this AMR provides the algorithms for transporting radionuclides using the flow geometry and radionuclide concentrations determined by other elements of the TSPA-SR model. The scope of the EBS RT Abstraction also does not include computational or numerical procedures for solving the process-level equations; rather, it identifies the important processes that must then be evaluated with process-level or component-level software using analytical or numerical solutions.

Research Organization:
Yucca Mountain Project, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
OSTI ID:
837137
Report Number(s):
ANL-WIS-PA-000001, REV 00, ICN 03; MOL.20010806.0076, DC 28829; TRN: US0502260
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 27 Jun 2001
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English