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Category : Radioactive waste disposal in the ground
Languages : en
Pages : 528
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Book Description
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Radioactive waste disposal in the ground
Languages : en
Pages : 528
Get Book
Book Description
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Radioactive waste disposal in the ground
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author:
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ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 525
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This volume reports the development of TSPA for the VA. This first section defines the general process involved in developing any TSPA, it describes the overall TSPA process as implemented by programs in the US and elsewhere in the world, and discusses the acceptability of TSPA as a process or tool for analyzing a nuclear waste repository system. Section 2 discusses the more specific use of the TSPA process for the TSPA-VA for Yucca Mountain, including goals, approach, and methods. It also includes a very brief synopsis of TSPA-VA results. Section 3 briefly discusses each of the component models that comprise the TSPA-VA. Each TSPA component model represents a discrete set of processes. The TSPA-VA components are: unsaturated zone flow, thermal hydrology, near- field geochemical environment, waste package degradation, waste form alteration and mobilization, unsaturated zone transport, saturated zone flow and transport, and biosphere. For each of these components, this section introduces the conceptualization of each individual process, describes the data sources, and discusses model parameter development and computer methods used to simulate each component. Section 4 explains the mechanics of how the individual TSPA components were combined into a ''base case'' and then provides the ''expected value'' results of a deterministic base case analysis. Section 4 also contains a description of the probabilistic analyses and results that help determine the relative importance of the various TSPA components and the data used to describe the components. Section 5 addresses sensitivity studies run for each of the TSPA components to understand how uncertainty in various parameters within a component change the TSPA results. Section 6 presents the findings of the sensitivity studies run on the various components in Section 5, and prioritizes the findings of the entire set of uncertainty and sensitivity studies of the components relative to each other. Section 6 also discusses the DOE assessment of potential activities to increase the confidence in future TSPAs based on the results of TSPA-VA, gives a synopsis of the insights provided by the TSPA Peer Review Panel, includes a discussion of comments received by DOE from NRC, and closes with concluding remarks.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Radioactive waste disposal in the ground
Languages : en
Pages : 52
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Book Description
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Languages : en
Pages : 5
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As mandated in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been investigating a candidate site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to determine whether it is suitable for development of the nation's first repository for permanent geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987 directed that only Yucca Mountain be characterized to evaluate the site's suitability. Three main components of the DOE site characterization program are testing, design, and performance assessment. These program components consist of: Investigation of natural features and processes by analyzing data collected from field tests conducted above and below ground and from laboratory tests of rock, gas, and water samples Design of a repository and waste packages tailored to the site features, supported by laboratory testing of candidate materials for waste packages and design related testing in the underground tunnels where waste would be emplaced Quantitative estimates of the performance of the total repository system, over a range of possible conditions and for different repository configurations, by means of computer modeling techniques that are based on site and materials testing data and accepted principles of physics and chemistry. To date, DOE has completed and documented four major iterations of total system performance assessment (TSPA) for the Yucca Mountain site: TSPA-91 (Barnard et al. 1992), TSPA-93 (Wilson et al. 1994; CRWMS M and O 1994), TSPA-95 (CRWMS M and O 1995), and the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (TSPA-VA) (DOE 1998a, Volume 3). Each successive TSPA iteration has advanced the technical understanding of the performance attributes of the natural features and processes and enhanced engineering designs. The next major iteration of TSPA is to be conducted in support of the next major programmatic milestone for the DOE, namely the Site Recommendation (SR). The Total System Performance Assessment-Site Recommendation (TSPA-SR) will present a compliance evaluation of overall system performance against the guidelines and requirements in the revision of the DOE siting guidelines to be promulgated at 10 CFR 963, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulation for HLW disposal at proposed 10 CFR 63 (the proposed rule has been published at 64 FR 8640), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental radiation protection standard to be promulgated at 40 CFR 197. At present, the NRC has issued the proposed 10 CFR 63 (64 FR 8640) for public comment whereas the EPA standard and the revised DOE siting guidelines are currently being developed. EPA has announced the release of 40 CFR 197 proposed rule on its website (www.epa.gov/radiation/yucca/rule.qui.htm) and the Federal Register announcement (which initiates the 90 day public comment period) is expected by the end of August, 1999. The purpose of this document is to present the overall goals, objectives, scope, methods, approach, and assumptions to be used in the development of the TSPA-SR. This document will serve as a communication tool for coordinating the DOE TSPA activities and for keeping the NRC staff informed of the TSPA activities for the SR.
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Languages : en
Pages : 5
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The TSPA-VA Peer Review Panel (the Panel) was formed to provide the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management and Operating Contractor (CRWMS M and O) with a formal, independent evaluation and critique of the Total System Performance Assessment-Viability Assessment (TSPA-VA) for the proposed high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The objectives of the Panel were to describe the technical strengths and weaknesses of the TSPA-VA and to provide suggestions for its improvement, as the TSPA staff moves ahead to prepare documentation in support of a possible license application (LA). The Panel issued three interim reports prior to the completion of the TSPA-VA. These were based on draft documents supplemented by formal and informal meetings and interactions with the TSPA-VA staff. The comments in this final report were based on documented work, namely, the completed TSPA-VA (CRWMS M and O, 1998d) and its supporting Technical Basis Documents (CRWMS M and O, 1998c) and on other documents cited as references to this report.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Radioactive waste disposal in the ground
Languages : en
Pages : 56
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 83
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Predicting the performance of a repository at Yucca Mountain is a technically challenging task. As is noted in Section II, the analysis involves the modeling of complex hydrologic, thermal, chemical, and mechanical interactions over times spanning tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Many of the technical questions that are necessarily addressed in this analysis, for example, the distribution of the time for corrosion to breach the waste canisters, are at the forefront of the capabilities of present day science. With these complexities in mind, the TSPA Peer Review Panel has evaluated work that has been done and that is in progress. This first interim report reflects the Panel's initial review, subject to the following significant limitations: The Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) supporting the Viability Assessment (VA) has not yet been written and, thus, the Panel is reviewing a work in progress. The Panel has available to it previous TSPA reports and various technical reports prepared in support of TSPA. The Panel also has been given briefings on the work being done for the TSPA-VA and has sent Panel members to abstraction meetings conducted by the TSPA-VA team to assign priorities to key technical issues and provide simplified versions of analyses suitable for an integrated analysis of the site as a whole. Members of the Panel have also attended other project workshops. The design of the repository is evolving. A number of aspects of the design have changed since the Panel's first meeting or are under review. Examples include the use of Alloy 625 instead of Alloy 825 as the inner corrosion resistant material of the waste canisters, the potential use of a gravel or sand backfill in the drifts, and consideration of alternative configurations for spent fuel containing highly enriched uranium. The Panel is still in an orientation phase. This is a large and technically diverse project with a long history. In the few months since the Panel's first meeting, members have not had sufficient time to review all relevant documents or to learn of all the work that is being done to support the TSPA-VA.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Radioactive waste disposal in the ground
Languages : en
Pages : 154
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Languages : en
Pages : 5
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Yucca Mountain, in southern Nevada, is under consideration by the US Department of Energy (DOE) as a potential site for the disposal of the nation's radioactive wastes in a geologic repository. The wastes consist of commercial spent fuel, DOE spent nuclear fuel (SNF), high level waste (HLW), and surplus plutonium. The DOE was mandated by Congress in the fiscal 1997 Energy and Water Appropriations Act to complete a viability assessment (VA) of the repository in September of 1998. The assessment consists of a preliminary design concept for the critical elements of the repository, a total system performance assessment (TSPA), a plan and cost estimate for completion of the license application, and an estimate of the cost to construct and operate the repository. This paper presents the results of the sensitivity analyses that were conducted to examine the behavior of DOE SNF and plutonium waste forms in the environment of the base case repository that was modeled for the TSPA-VA. Fifteen categories of DOE SNF and two Plutonium waste forms were examined and their contribution to radiation dose to humans was evaluated.
