ANDRA Newsletter #3
ANDRA Newsletter #3
Newsletter produced by ANDRA, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency.
Newsletter produced by ANDRA, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency.
This report discusses the status of the commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) inventory in the United States, at both decommissioned and operating commercial nuclear power reactor sites; summarizes the contractual arrangement the government and utilities have under the Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste (10 CFR Part 961) (Standard Contract), related litigation, and the financial liabilities resulting from the Department’s delay in performance under these contracts; provides a history of interim storage policy as it relates to commercial SN
The United States makes decisions regarding the domestic uses of nuclear energy and the nuclear fuel cycle primarily based economic considerations, domestic political constraints, and environmental impact concerns. Such factors influence U.S. foreign policy decisions as well, but foreign policy decisions are often more strongly determined by national security considerations, including concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear terrorism.
Over the past few years a number of important studies have been executed to identify and define the necessary nuclear energy research, development and demonstration (RD&D) infrastructure that must be sustained or developed.
The purpose of this engineering calculation is to estimate the frequency of misloading spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies that would result in exceeding the criticality design basis of a waste package (WP). This type of misload - a reactivity misload - results from the incorrect placement of one or more fuel assemblies into a waste package such that the criticality controls do not match the required controls for the fuel assemblies. An actual criticality event can not occur in a WP unless a moderator (e.g. water) is present.
The amount of spent fuel stored on-site at commercial nuclear reactors will continue to accumulate—increasing by about 2,000 metric tons per year and likely more than doubling to about 140,000 metric tons—before it can be moved off-site, because storage or disposal facilities may take decades to develop. In examining centralized storage or permanent disposal options, GAO found that new facilities may take from 15 to 40 years before they are ready to begin accepting spent fuel. Once an off-site facility is available, it will take several more decades to ship spent fuel to that facility.
This report documents the development and validation of the in-drift precipitates/salts (IDPS) process model. The IDPS process model is a geochemical model designed to predict the postclosure effects of evaporation and deliquescence on the chemical composition of water within the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) in support of the total system performance assessment (TSPA). Application of the model in support of TSPA is documented in Engineered Barrier System: Physical and Chemical Environment (BSC 2005 [DIRS 175083]).
In response to your request, and as a follow-up to the ACNW Working Group meeting with you and your staff on June 17, 1992, we offer the following comments on the Early Site Suitability Evaluation (ESSE) for the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository site. Our comments relate both to the ESSE, as prepared by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and to the draft review prepared by your staff.
The siting of the facilities for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and other long-lived<br/>nuclear waste is one of the central remaining tasks within the Swedish waste programme.<br/>Work relating to the siting of the repository is being conducted in stages and will<br/>continue for most of the 1990:ies. This report describes the background to, the goals<br/>for and structure of SKB 's activities relating to the siting of a deep geological<br/>repository.
The goal of radioactive waste management in Sweden is to dispose of all radioactive waste products generated at the Swedish nuclear power plants in a safe manner. Furthermore, all other radioactive waste that arises in Sweden shall be safely disposed of.<br/>The Act on Nuclear Activities requires that the owners of the Swedish nuclear power plants adopt the measures that are needed to achieve this goal. The owners of the Swedish nuclear power plants have commissioned the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) to implement the measures that are needed.<br/>
The U.S. Geological Survey's program for geologic and hydrologic evaluation of physiographic provinces to identify areas potentially suitable for locating repository sites for disposal of high-level nuclear wastes was announced to the Governors of the eight States in the Basin and Range Province on May 6, 1981. Representatives of Arizona, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Utah, were invited to cooperate with the Federal Government in the evaluation process.
Current U.S. nuclear waste law and policy is bankrupt. The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) set a 1998 deadline for opening a deep geologic repository to receive spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW) from reprocessing. In 1987, Congress amended the Act to designate Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only potential site, and severely restricted the development of any federal facility for consolidated storage of nuclear waste. Nevada’s unrelenting opposition to the Yucca repository eventually succeeded with the election of Barack Obama as President.
The purpose of these calculations is to characterize the criticality safety concerns for the storage of Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) nuclear fuel in a Department of Energy spent nuclear fuel (DOE SNF) canister in a co-disposal waste package. These results will be used to support the analysis that will be done to demonstrate concept viability related to use in the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) environment.
This report is in response to the directive of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Energy and Water
Development that the Department of Energy (DOE) update a 1984 report of alternative means of financing and
managing (AMFM) the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) in the DOE. The
President’s FY 2002 budget also stated: “DOE will submit to Congress an updated report regarding alternative
approaches to finance and manage the program by June 30, 2001[.] DOE will identify in this report models of
The Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) Waste Package Operations (WPO) of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System Management & Operating Contractor (CRWMS M&O) performed calculations to provide input for disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the Shippingport Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) (Ref. 1). The Shippingport PWR SNF has been considered for disposal at the proposed Yucca Mountain site.
The objective of this calculation is to establish an isotopic database to represent commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF) from boiling water reactors (BWRs) in criticality analyses performed for the proposed Monitored Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Confirmation of the conservatism with respect to criticality in the isotopic concentration values represented by this isotopic database is performed as described in Section 3.5.3.1.2 of the Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report (Reference 7.1).
This report has been prepared by an ad-hoc Working Group (WG) formed by ANDRA (France), NUMO (Japan), NAGRA (Switzerland) and ENRESA (Spain) in May 2003, after the EDRAM meeting held in Valencia to study the situation in the different EDRAM member countries regarding the treatment of radioactive waste ownership and management of long-term liabilities.
This Record of Decision has been prepared pursuant to the Regulations of
the council on Environmental Quality, 40 CFR Part 1805, on the selection of a
strategy for the disposal of commercially-generated radioactive wastes and the
supporting program of research and development.
The United States Department of Energy has decided to (1) adopt a strategy to
develop mined geologic repositories for disposal of commercially-generated
high-level and transuranic radioactive wastes (while continuing to examine
A new report from the National Academies proposes a management approach called “adaptive staging” as a promising means to develop geologic repositories for high-level waste such as the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Adaptive staging is a learn-as-you-go process that enables project managers to continuously reevaluate and adjust the program in response to new knowledge and stakeholder input.
This book recounts the issues raised and the viewpoints aired at a recent symposium on
repository licensing. It summarizes the problems surrounding the setting of an
Environmental Protection Agency standard for the release of radionuclides and the
regulatory problems inherent in meeting such a standard. Symposium participants came
from a variety of federal agencies and advisory groups, state governments, public interest
groups, engineering firms, national laboratories, and foreign and international
organizations.
Performance objectives for the geologic repository operations area through permanent closure in 10 CFR 63.111 identify compliance with regulatory dose limits for workers and members of the public as a design objective. The purpose of this design calculation is to determine direct radiation dose consequences for Category 1 and 2 event sequences. It does not include worker dose assessment for recovery operations following Category 1 event sequences.
The AMFM Panel has submitted its report "Managing Nuclear
Waste - A Better Idea" to the Secretary. The report contains six
general conclusions and one general recommendation in Chapter
XII. In addition, Chapter X contains 14 specific enhancements
("Key Components of Any Waste Management Structure") that are
recommended for implementation by the Office of Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management (OCRWM) or any alternative organization.
This paper lists and discusses the 6 general conclusions, the