EQ6 Calculation for Chemical Degradation of Shippingport LWBR (TH/U Oxide) Spent Nuclear Fuel Waste Packages
- Yucca Mountain Project, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
The Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) Waste Package Department of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management & Operating contractor (CRWMS M&O) performed calculations to provide input for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR). The Shippingport LWBR SNF has been considered for disposal at the potential Yucca Mountain site. Because of the high content of fissile material in the SNF, the waste package (WP) design requires special consideration of the amount and placement of neutron absorbers and the possible loss of absorbers and SNF materials over geologic time. For some WPs, the outer shell corrosion-resistant material (CRM) and the corrosion-allowance inner shell may breach, allowing the influx of water. Water in the WP will moderate neutrons, increasing the likelihood of a criticality event within the WP; and the water may, in time, gradually leach the fissile components and neutron absorbers from the WP, further affecting the neutronics of the system. This study presents calculations of the long-term geochemical behavior of WPs containing a Shippingport LWBR SNF seed assembly, and high-level waste (HLW) glass canisters arranged according to the codisposal concept. The specific study objectives were to determine: (1) The extent to which criticality control material, suggested for this WP design, will remain in the WP after corrosion/dissolution of the initial WP configuration (such that it can be effective in preventing criticality); (2) The extent to which fissile uranium and fertile thorium will be carried out of the degraded WP by infiltrating water (such that internal criticality is no longer possible, but the possibility of external criticality may be enhanced); and (3) The nominal chemical composition for the criticality evaluations of the WP design, and to suggest the range of parametric variations for additional evaluations. The scope of this calculation, the chemical compositions (and subsequent criticality evaluations), of the simulations are limited to time periods up to 3.17 x 105 years. This longer time frame is closer to the one million year time horizon recently recommended by the National Academy of Sciences to the Environmental Protection Agency for performance assessment related to a nuclear repository. However, it is important to note that after 100,000 years, most of the materials of interest (fissile and absorber materials) will have either been removed from the WP, reached a steady state, or been transmuted. The calculation included elements with high neutron-absorption cross sections, notably gadolinium (Gd), as well as the fissile materials. The results of this analysis will be used to ensure that the type and amount of criticality control material used in the WP design will prevent criticality.
- Research Organization:
- Yucca Mountain Project, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- OSTI ID:
- 893800
- Report Number(s):
- CAL-EDC-MD-000008-Rev-00; MOL.20000926.0295, DC# 24931; TRN: US0606123
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
External Criticality Calculation for DOE SNF Codisposal Waste Packages
Intact and Degraded Criticality Calculations for the Codisposal of Shippingport LWBR Spent Nuclear Fuel in a Waste Package
Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BREEDER REACTORS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CONTAINERS
CRITICALITY
CROSS SECTIONS
FISSILE MATERIALS
GADOLINIUM
NEUTRON ABSORBERS
NUCLEAR FUELS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
SPENT FUELS
THORIUM
URANIUM
US EPA
WASTES
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Criticality
Fuel Materials
Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Radioactive Waste Management
Waste Management
Containers
Waste Package
Gadolinium
High-Level Waste
Geochemical
Corrosion-Resistant Material
CRM