The second iteration of the Systems Prioritization Method: A systems prioritization and decision-aiding tool for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Volume 2, Summary of technical input and model implementation

Prindle, N.H.; Mendenhall, F.T.; Trauth, Kathleen M.; Boak, D.M.; Beyeler, Walter E.; Hora, Stephen C.; Rudeen, David Keith

doi:10.2172/244508

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 2 publications

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“…Seal design changes and refinements were implemented through variation of the lumped seal geometry and properties. A baseline conceptual model of the shaft sealing system was presented as part of the Systems Prioritization Method (SPM) (Prindle et al, 1996). This model divided the seal system into upper and lower sealing units separated by a "shaft" component.…”

Section: Summary Of Previous Conceptual Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WIPP shaft seal system parameters recommended to support compliance calculations

Hurtado¹,

Knowles

Kelley³

et al. 1997

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Section: Summary Of Previous Conceptual Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WIPP shaft seal system parameters recommended to support compliance calculations

Hurtado¹,

Knowles

Kelley³

et al. 1997

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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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Development of the conceptual models for chemical conditions and hydrology used in the 1996 performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Larson

2000

Reliability Engineering & System Safety

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Abstract:The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a US Department of Energy (DOE) facility for the permanent disposal of defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations specify that the DOE must demonstrate on a sound basis that the WIPP disposal system will effectively contain long-lived alpha-emitting radionuclides within its boundaries for 10,000 years following closure. In 1996, the DOE submitted the 40 CFR The 1996 WIPP PA model of the disposal system included conceptual and mathematical representations of key hydrologic and geochemical processes. These key processes were identified over a 22-year period involving data collection, data interpretation, computer models, and sensitivity studies to evaluate the importance of uncertainty and of processes that were difficult to evaluate by other means. Key developments in the area of geochemistry were the evaluation of gas generation mechanisms in the reposito~, For submittal to Reliability Engineering and System SafetyThe WIPP is a DOE facility for the permanent disposal of defense-related TRU waste.The facility is located about 42 km east of the town of Carlsbad in southeastern NewMexico ( properties of the Salado, primarily its geologic stability and its isolation capability.lg However, regulations specifi that performance of the WIPP shall be predicted based on extrapolating current land-use practices in the vicinity of WIPP to 10,000 years. 18'6Furthermore, although administrative controls will be implemented and passive markers will be built to deter incompatible activities, the EPA regulations require the assumption that controls and markers are ineffective beyond 100 years after closure.18>Becausepotash and hydrocarbon resources occur in the WD?P vicinity and are currently being developed and extracted, predictions of WIPP performance must include the potential effects of such development inside the disposal system. These considerations lead to the disturbed-performance (or human-intrusion) scenario as the dominant factor in evaluating compliance with the EPA regulations (Figure 3). In the 1996 WIPP PA, the disturbed- Conceptual models describe with words and diagrams the processes that occur within the disposal system (or have a reasonable likelihood of occurring). It is recognized that conceptual models can be formulated at varying levels of complexity and realism, and this has occurred on the WIPP Project. In many cases, the conceptual models developed to explain detailed observations are much more complicated than the conceptual models explicitly represented in the 1996 WIPP PA. The requirements of the system-level PA Larson, Development of the Conceptual Models...,

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The second iteration of the Systems Prioritization Method: A systems prioritization and decision-aiding tool for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Volume 2, Summary of technical input and model implementation

Cited by 4 publications

References 2 publications

WIPP shaft seal system parameters recommended to support compliance calculations

WIPP shaft seal system parameters recommended to support compliance calculations

Historical background on performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Development of the conceptual models for chemical conditions and hydrology used in the 1996 performance assessment for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

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