Preliminary comparison with 40 CFR Part 191, Subpart B for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, December 1990

Bertram-Howery, S.G.; Marietta, M.G.; Rechard, Robert P.; Anderson, D.R.; Swift, Peter N.; Baker, Bill J.; Bean, J.E.; McCurley, R.D.; Rudeen, David Keith; Beyeler, Walter E.; Brinster, K.F.; Guzowski, R.V.; Sch,

doi:10.2172/6197462

Cited by 32 publications

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“…In a refinement of FEP screening in 1990 (Guzowski, 1990), the presence of the brine reservoir in the underlying Casti!e was combined with exploratory drilling to produce three representative intrusion scenarios: El, a borehole drilled through the repository and the brine reservo~E2, a borehole drilled through the repository only; and E1E2, a combination of the two. In the scenarios, the borehole plugs were assumed to degrade so that contact was maximized between the pressurized Castile brine and the panel of waste.…”

Section: Human Intrusion Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, in combination with sensitivity analysis (Section 8), iterative PAs allowed project managers, PA analysts, and experimentalists to decide how best to allocate resources for supplementary data collection and whether models should be elaborated upon or simplified in later iterations. Consequently, Sandia conducted four preliminary PAs from 1989 through 1992, with each PA building upon the preceding PAs (Marietta et al, 1989;Rech-tid et al, 1990;Bertram-Howery et al, 1990;WIPP PA Division, 1991WIPP PA Depfient, 1992). …”

Section: Iteration Of Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The same three parameters (volubility of radioisotopes, time of intrusion, and assumed diameter of the borehole) were again the most important out of the selected 39 uncertain parameters in the 1990 PA (Bertram-Howery et al, 1990). This PA also evaluated release of radioisotopes from cuttings brought directly to the surfac~these releases controlled the shape of the CCDF at probabilities greater than 0.5.…”

Section: Sensitive Parameters ' 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FirsG an immediate release could occur during the drilling process, because the drill. bit was assumed to bore vertically although it was assumed the boreholes would be plugged upon abandonment according to current industry standards, selective degradation of these plugs, accompanied by an eventual shift to a permeability similar to that of sand (as suggested in Appendix C of 40 CFR 191), could lead to the possibility of long-term releases by means of transport through the repository, up the boreholes to the aquifer in the Culebra, and then laterally through the Culebra toward the boundary of the accessible environment.In a refinement of FEP screening in 1990 (Guzowski, 1990), the presence of the brine reservoir in the underlying Casti!e was combined with exploratory drilling to produce three representative intrusion scenarios: El, a borehole drilled through the repository and the brine reservo~E2, a borehole drilled through the repository only; and E1E2, a combination of the two. In the scenarios, the borehole plugs were assumed to degrade so that contact was maximized between the pressurized Castile brine and the panel of waste.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important reason for using a detailed modeling style was the general acceptance in the United States of its use in PWls (Rasmussen, 1975;Breeding et al, 1992). Also comments received from the EPA (Bertram-Howery et al, 1990) and the WIPP Panel of the NAS on the 1989 PA encouraged Sandia to move from the simplified NEFTRAN (Longsine et al, 1987) models to a more detailed modeling. Some models, such as PANEL, remained simplified, but in general phenomenological models were used extensively in 1992 and 1996.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Historical background on performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Rechard

2000

Reliability Engineering & System Safety

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Protection Agency (EPA) certified that the WIPP dkposal system complied with its regulations. The EPA's decision was primarily based on the results from a performance. assessment conducted in 1996, which is summarized in thk special issue of Reliability Engineerhg and System Safety. This performance assessment was the culmination of four prelirninaryperformance assessments conducted between 1989 and 1992. "This paper provides a historical setting and context for how the performance of the deep geologic repository at the WIPP was analyzed.' Also included is background on political forces .acting on the project.Key Words: performance assessmen~probabilistic risk assessment risk assessment; radioactive waste disposal; Waste Isolation Pilot PlanG history . '1.0 IntroductionIn 1998,25 years 'after selection of the "Delaware Basin in southeastern New Mexico as a~otential disposal site for radioactive waste, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), an underground geologic disposal system, complied with its regulations. This paper presents a historical summary of the system characterization, engineering analyses, and scientific investigations undertaken by the WIPP Project over the past 25 years and provides a context for the~esults presented in this special issue of Reliability Engineering and System Safety. Although it is mot .essentird to know the WIPP'S history to comprehend the engineering analysis, an understanding of the issues that the project faced can be helpful. Many paths were followed during these 25 years to discern which phenomena were important at the WIPP, and often these paths were initiated in Tesponse to evolving notions of what kind of :g@tific information was "significant, what level of understanding was required, and how society could use this scientific information to decide whether deep geologic disposal of nuclear waste was acceptable.1-3/9/99 Draft \. DISCLAIMERPortions of this document may be illegible in electronic image products. Images are produced from the best available original document... .- Characterization of WIPP Disposal SystemThe choice of New Mexico as a potential disposal site for nuclear waste in 1973 (Claibome and Gera, 1974) was one in a series of episodes in which New Mexico had figured prominently with regard to nuclear phenomena. In 1942, the Manhattan Engineering Dkrnct selected New Mexico as the location (including what are known now asLos Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories) for assembling the scientists, engineers, and technicians who would develop the fist atomic bomb. As a direct consequence of that development, the first atomic explosion took place in 1945 in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico (Serber, 1992). Sixteen years later, in 1961, scientists with the Gnome Project detonated a device in the Delaware Basin in bedded salt near Carlsbad, New Mexico, as part of the Plowshare Program, which was exploring nonmilitary uses of nuclear explosives (Gard, 1968).After a potential...

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Section: Human Intrusion Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Iteration Of Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sensitive Parameters ' 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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