Illuminating the Decision Path: The Yucca Mountain Site Recommendation
Illuminating the Decision Path: The Yucca Mountain Site Recommendation
On February 14, 2002, U.S.
On February 14, 2002, U.S.
The study of geosciences and their relation to nuclear waste disposal and<br/>management entails analyzing the hydrology, chemistry, and geometry of the<br/>nuclear waste migration process. Hydrologic effects are determined by<br/>analyzing the porosity and permeability (natural and induced) of rock as well,<br/>as pressures and gradients, dispersion, and aquifer length of the system.<br/>Chemistry parameters include radionuclide retardation factors and waste<br/>dissolution rate.
The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel<br/>Management and on the Safety of Radioactive<br/>Waste Management was adopted on 29 September<br/>1997 in the Vienna Diplomatic Conference. Finland<br/>signed the Convention on 2 October 1997 and deposited<br/>the tools of acceptance on 10 February<br/>2000. The Convention entered into force on 18 June<br/>2001.<br/>The fulfilment of the obligations of the<br/>Convention and the developments after the second<br/>Review Meeting are assessed in this report.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $20 million to conduct detailed siting studies for public or commercial entities interested in hosting DOE’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) facilities. Entities could qualify to receive up to $5 million per site. DOE also announced that it is seeking expressions of interest to obtain input from U.S.
Draft Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, DOE/EIS-0396
Letter to The Honorable Nancy L. Kassebaum from J. Dexter Peach, Director, U.S. General Accounting Office
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations governing the disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in a proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The final rule implements the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) revised standards for doses that could occur after 10,000 years, but within the period of geologic stability.
Deep geologic repositories are being widely studied as the most favored method of disposal of nuclear waste. Scientists search for repository sites in salt, basalt, tuff and granite that are geologically and hydrologically suitable. The systematic evaluation of the safety and reliability of deep geologic disposal centers around the concept of interacting multiple barriers. The simplest element to describe of the geologic barrier is the physical isolation of the waste in a remote region at some depth within the rock unit.
The State of Mississippi has compiled this comment document on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Richton Dome site, which is being considered by the Department of Energy for a possible nuclear waste repository. The comments in this document are based on contributions from state officials and state agencies, private contractor organizations, other state institutions and members of the public. DOE has of course received additional comments from members of the public and others in the public hearings on the subject that have been held in the State.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has amended the policies under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 for evaluating the suitability of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a site for development of a nuclear waste repository. The final rule at Title 10, Part 963 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 963) focuses on the criteria and methodology to be used for evaluating relevant geological and other related aspects of the Yucca Mountain site.
Over the past forty years, the development of the technology needed to isolate radioactive waste in underground rock systems has been found to be a formidable problem. This is especially the case in connection with high-level waste (HLW) after its removal from operations in nuclear power plants. There is also the additional problem of isolating low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW).
The first worldwide review of geological problems in radioactive waste isolation was published by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in 1991 (Witherspoon, 1991). This review was a compilation of reports that had been submitted to a workshop held in conjunction with the 28th International Geological Congress that took place July 9Ð19, 1989, in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Government is seeking a site for a monitored retrievable storage facility (MRS). Employing proven technologies used in this country and abroad, the MRS will be an integral part of the Federal system for safe and permanent disposal of the nation's high-level radioactive wastes. The MRS will accept shipments of spent fuel from commerical nuclear power plants, temporarily store the spent fuel above ground, and stage shipments of it to a geologic repository for permanent disposal.