Waste package degradation from thermal and chemical processes in performance assessments for the Yucca Mountain disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

Rechard, Robert P.; Lee, Joon‐Hyung; Hardin, Ernest; Bryan, Charles R.

doi:10.1016/j.ress.2013.06.027

Cited by 23 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Although it is commonly assumed that the container no longer serves any function after first penetration of the corrosion allowance, some PA models do account for the effect of the remaining barrier. For example, in the Waste Package Degradation (WAPDEG) PA model for the corrosion of Alloy 22 waste packages in the Yucca Mountain repository, the container surface was divided into ~1400 "patches", each approximately the size of a corrosion coupon used in the complementary long-term corrosion tests used to provide input data for the model [25][26][27]. Each patch was assigned a corrosion rate from a Weibull distribution of the experimentally observed rates, so that some patches corroded faster than others.…”

Section: Pa Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the Modelling of Corrosion Processes and Lifetime Prediction for HLW/SF Containers—Part 2: Performance Assessment Models

King,

Kolàř,

Briggs

et al. 2024

CMD

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The disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SF) presents a unique challenge for the prediction of the long-term performance of corrodible structures since the HLW/SF canisters are expected, in some cases, to have lifetimes of one million years or longer. Various empirical and deterministic models have been developed over the past 45 years for making predictions of the long-term corrosion behaviour, including models for uniform and localized corrosion, environmentally assisted cracking and microbiologically influenced corrosion. As well as process models focused on specific corrosion mechanisms (described in Part 1 of this review), there is also a need for performance assessment models as part of the overall analysis of the safety of a deep geological repository (DGR). Performance assessment models are often based on simplified or abstracted process models. The manner in which various international waste management programs have predicted the long-term performance of HLW/SF containers with copper, steel, Ni and Ti alloy corrosion barriers is discussed. Performance assessments are repeated periodically during the development and implementation of a DGR, and the corrosion models are constantly updated in light of new mechanistic understanding and/or more information about the deep geological environment. Two examples of how the container performance assessment models evolve over time are also described. Performance assessment models cannot easily be validated, so it is important to build confidence in the long-term predictions using other methods, including natural analogues and large-scale in situ tests and the use of complementary models.

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Section: Pa Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the Modelling of Corrosion Processes and Lifetime Prediction for HLW/SF Containers—Part 2: Performance Assessment Models

King,

Kolàř,

Briggs

et al. 2024

CMD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A heat load of either 14 W/m 2 (as used in PA-EA and PA-91) or a hotter 28 W/m 2 were evaluated. The proposal to design a hotter repository necessitated the addition of a thermal module to the consequence model [7]. That is, PA-93 made the first tentative steps toward evaluating the interaction between the engineered barrier and the natural barrier.…”

Section: Progression Of Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, YMP used a similarly rapid rate for degradation of HLW in PA-VA and thereafter. Other components of the multi-barrier YM disposal system compensated for the high degradation rates (e.g., while the container was structurally intact, the container provided substantial diffusive and advective resistance to flow regardless of the condition of the cladding and rapid waste form degradation [7]).…”

Section: Progression Of Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Milestones for Selection, Characterization, and Analysis of the Performance of a Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain.

Rechard

2015

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This report presents a concise history in tabular form of events leading up to site identification in 1978, site selection in 1987, subsequent characterization, and ongoing analysis through 2009 of the performance of a repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. The tabulated events generally occurred in five periods: (1) commitment to mined geologic disposal and identification of sites; (2) site selection and analysis, based on regional geologic characterization through literature and analogous data; (3) feasibility analysis demonstrating calculation procedures and importance of system components, based on rough measures of performance using surface exploration, waste process knowledge, and general laboratory experiments; (4) suitability analysis demonstrating viability of disposal system, based on environment-specific laboratory experiments, in-situ experiments, and underground disposal system characterization; and (5) compliance analysis, based on completed site-specific characterization. The current sixth period beyond 2010 represents a new effort to set waste management policy in the United States. Because the relationship is important to understanding the evolution of the Yucca Mountain Project, the tabulation also shows the interaction between the policy realm and technical realm using four broad categories of events: (a) Regulatory requirements and related federal policy in laws and court decisions, (c) Presidential and agency directives, (c) technical milestones of implementing institutions, and (d) critiques of the Yucca Mountain Project and pertinent national and world events related to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. Preface The historical progression of technical milestones for the Yucca Mountain Project was originally developed for 10 journal articles in a special issue of Reliability Engineering System Safety on the performance assessment for the Yucca Mountain license application [1-10]. The listing of milestones, a distinct feature of those articles, has been collected and tabulated here. Although a brief description is presented here (based on the summaries in the 10 journal articles), the emphasis remains on the tabulation because of its usefulness in providing a comprehensive but concise history of the Yucca Mountain Project. The tabulation presented here is more elaborate than originally presented in that many of the interactions that occurred between the technical realm and policy realm can be depicted in separate columns. The usefulness of the milestones table is due in part to L.A. Connolly, for editorial and reference support, and S.K. Best, Raytheon, and L. Mays, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), for illustration support. Reviewers P.N. Swift, SNL, and K. Gupta, University of Oklahoma, helped improve the discussion. The historical perspective presented is that of the author and is not necessarily held by reviewers, Sandia National Laboratories, and the US Department of Energy. As a historic perspective, the author is re...

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“…Also, YMP used a similarly rapid rate for degradation of HLW in PA-VA and thereafter. Other components of the multi-barrier YM disposal system compensated for the high degradation rates (e.g., while the container was structurally intact, the container provided substantial diffusive and advective resistance to flow regardless of the presence of cladding and a rapid waste form degradation rate [7]).…”

Section: Progression Of Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For PA-SR, the container corrosion module was moved directly into the stochastic calculation and included breach of the newly added drip shield [7] ( Table 1). Also, the drift seepage module of the consequence model was more elaborate [6].…”

Section: Progression Of Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Milestones for Selection, Characterization, and Analysis of the Performance of a Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain

Rechard

2014

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This report presents a concise history in tabular form of events leading up to site identification in 1978, site selection in 1987, subsequent characterization, and ongoing analysis through 2008 of the performance of a repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. The tabulated events generally occurred in five periods: (1) commitment to mined geologic disposal and identification of sites; (2) site selection and analysis, based on regional geologic characterization through literature and analogous data; (3) feasibility analysis demonstrating calculation procedures and importance of system components, based on rough measures of performance using surface exploration, waste process knowledge, and general laboratory experiments; (4) suitability analysis demonstrating viability of disposal system, based on environment-specific laboratory experiments, in-situ experiments, and underground disposal system characterization; and (5) compliance analysis, based on completed site-specific characterization. Because the relationship is important to understanding the evolution of the Yucca Mountain Project, the tabulation also shows the interaction between four broad categories of political bodies and government agencies/institutions: (a) technical milestones of the implementing institutions, (b) development of the regulatory requirements and related federal policy in laws and court decisions, (c) Presidential and agency directives and decisions, and (d) critiques of the Yucca Mountain Project and pertinent national and world events related to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. iv Preface The historical progression of technical milestones for the Yucca Mountain Project was originally developed for 10 journal articles in a special issue of Reliability Engineering System Safety on the performance assessment for the Yucca Mountain license application [1-10]. The listing of milestones, a distinct feature of those articles, has been collected and tabulated here. Although a brief description is presented here (based on the summaries in the 10 journal articles), the emphasis remains on the tabulation because of its usefulness in providing a comprehensive but concise history of the Yucca Mountain Project. Yet, the tabulation presented here is more elaborate than originally presented in that many of the interactions that occurred between the technical realm and policy realm can be depicted in separate columns. The usefulness of the milestones table is due in part to L.A. Connolly, for editorial and reference support, and S.K. Best, Raytheon, and L. Mays, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), for illustration support. Reviewers P.N. Swift, SNL, and K. Gupta, University of Oklahoma, helped improve the discussion. The historical perspective presented is that of the author and is not necessarily held by reviewers, Sandia National Laboratories, and the US Department of Energy. As a historic perspective, the author is reporting on the work of others; however, any interpretative errors...

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Waste package degradation from thermal and chemical processes in performance assessments for the Yucca Mountain disposal system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste

Cited by 23 publications

References 25 publications

Review of the Modelling of Corrosion Processes and Lifetime Prediction for HLW/SF Containers—Part 2: Performance Assessment Models

Review of the Modelling of Corrosion Processes and Lifetime Prediction for HLW/SF Containers—Part 2: Performance Assessment Models

Milestones for Selection, Characterization, and Analysis of the Performance of a Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain.

Milestones for Selection, Characterization, and Analysis of the Performance of a Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain

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