Risk methodology for geologic disposal of radioactive waste

Cranwell, R.M.; Campbell, J.E.; Ortiz, N.R.; Guzowski, R.V.

doi:10.2172/7178896

Cited by 64 publications

(104 citation statements)

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“…The process used for the development of a FEPs list is well documented (Cranwell et al 1982, DOE 1996a, DOE 1996b) and could serve as a model for the development and screening of FEPs for a HLW repository in salt. For example, the WIPP FEPs list (see Appendix A) is divided into three primary categories: natural FEPs, human-initiated FEPs, and waste-and repository-related FEPs.…”

Section: Catalogs Of Fepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salt disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste.

Hansen²

2011

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This report summarizes the state of salt repository science, reviews many of the technical issues pertaining to disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste in salt, and proposes several avenues for future science-based activities to further the technical basis for disposal in salt. There are extensive salt formations in the forty-eight contiguous states, and many of them may be worthy of consideration for nuclear waste disposal. The United States has extensive experience in salt repository sciences, including an operating facility for disposal of transuranic wastes. The scientific background for salt disposal including laboratory and field tests at ambient and elevated temperature, principles of salt behavior, potential for fracture damage and its mitigation, seal systems, chemical conditions, advanced modeling capabilities and near-future developments, performance assessment processes, and international collaboration are all discussed. The discussion of salt disposal issues is brought current, including a summary of recent international workshops dedicated to high-level waste disposal in salt.Lessons learned from Sandia National Laboratories' experience on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and the Yucca Mountain Project as well as related salt experience with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are applied in this assessment. Disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste in a suitable salt formation is attractive because the material is essentially impermeable, self-sealing, and thermally conductive. Conditions are chemically beneficial, and a significant experience base exists in understanding this environment. Within the period of institutional control, overburden pressure will seal fractures and provide a repository setting that limits radionuclide movement. A salt repository could potentially achieve total containment, with no releases to the environment in undisturbed scenarios for as long as the region is geologically stable. Much of the experience gained from United States repository development, such as seal system design, coupled process simulation, and application of performance assessment methodology, helps define a clear strategy for a heat-generating nuclear waste repository in salt.iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Section: Catalogs Of Fepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salt disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste.

Hansen²

2011

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“…A basic overview of the process of risk assessment is presented by Fjeld and Compton (1999). Probabilistic performance assessment methods have been developed to provide a basis for evaluation of the risk associated with nuclear waste disposal in geological repositories (Cranwell et al, 1987;Rechard, 1996Rechard, , 2002Wilson et al, 2002). Similar approaches are used for LLW disposal and uranium mill tailings (Serne et al, 1990).…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Geochemistry of Radioactive Contamination

Siegel

Bryan

2003

Treatise on Geochemistry

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This report attempts to describe the geochemical foundations of the behavior of radionuclides in the environment. The information is obtained and applied in three interacting spheres of inquiry and analysis: 1) experimental studies and theoretical calculations, 2) field studies of contaminated and natural analog sites and 3) model predictions of radionuclide behavior in remediation and waste disposal. Analyses of the risks from radioactive contamination require estimation of the rates of release and dispersion of the radionuclides through potential exposure pathways. These processes are controlled by solubility, speciation, sorption, and colloidal transport, which are strong functions of the compositions of the groundwater and geomedia as well as the atomic structure of the radionuclides.The chemistry of the fission products is relatively simple compared to the actinides. Because of their relatively short half-lives, fission products account for a large fraction of the radioactivity in nuclear waste for the first several hundred years but do not represent a long-term hazard in the environment. The chemistry of the longer-lived actinides is complex; however, some trends in their behavior can be described. Actinide elements of a given oxidation state have either similar or systematically varying chemical properties due to similarities in ionic size, coordination number, valence, and electron structure. In dilute aqueous systems at neutral to basic pH, the dominant actinide species are hydroxy-and carbonato-complexes, and the solubility-limiting solid phases are commonly oxides, hydroxides or carbonates. In general, actinide sorption will decrease in the presence of ligands that complex with the radionuclide; sorption of the (IV) species of actinides (Np, Pu, U) is generally greater than of the (V) species.The geochemistry of key radionuclides in three different environments is described in this report. These include: 1) low ionic strength reducing waters from crystalline rocks at nuclear waste research 4 sites in Sweden; 2) oxic water from the J-13 well at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the site of a proposed repository for high level nuclear waste (HLW) in tuffaceous rocks; and 3) reference brines associated with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The transport behaviors of radionuclides associated with the Chernobyl reactor accident and the Oklo Natural Reactor are described. These examples span wide temporal and spatial scales and include the rapid geochemical and physical processes important to nuclear reactor accidents or industrial discharges as well as the slower processes important to the geologic disposal of nuclear waste.Application of geochemical information to remediating or assessing the risk posed by radioactive contamination is the final subject of this report. After radioactive source terms have been removed, large volumes of soil and water with low but potentially hazardous levels of contamination may remain. For poorly-sorbing radionuclides, capture of contaminated water and removal of radi...

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“…A systematic process for radioactive-waste disposal has been developed and applied over the past 20 years [5,6]. The process utilizes the following steps:…”

Section: Features Events and Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total-System Performance Assessment for the Yucca Mountain Site

et al. 2002

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Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is under consideration as a potential site for a repository for high-level radioactive waste. Total-system performance-assessment simulations are performed to evaluate the safety of the site. Features, events, and processes have been systematically evaluated to determine which ones are significant to the safety assessment. Computer models of the disposal system have been developed within a probabilistic framework, including both engineered and natural components. Selected results are presented for three different total-system simulations, and the behavior of the disposal system is discussed. The results show that risk is dominated by igneous activity at early times, because the robust waste-package design prevents significant nominal (non-disruptive) releases for tens of thousands of years or longer. The uncertainty in the nominal performance is dominated by uncertainties related to waste-package corrosion at early times and by uncertainties in the natural system, most significantly infiltration, at late times.

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Risk methodology for geologic disposal of radioactive waste

Cited by 64 publications

References 0 publications

Salt disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste.

Salt disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste.

Environmental Geochemistry of Radioactive Contamination

Total-System Performance Assessment for the Yucca Mountain Site

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