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Standards & Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste
Standards & Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste
This paper draws on my experience as a reviewer of the scientific programs and performance assessments of the geological repository for transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and the proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In addition, I have served on numerous committees of the National Research Council that have addressed many aspects of nuclear waste management.
Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report Revision 2
Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology Topical Report Revision 2
This topical report describes the approach to the risk-informed, performance-based methodology to be used for performing postclosure criticality analyses for waste forms in the Monitored Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The risk-informed, performance-based methodology will be used during the licensing process to demonstrate how the potential for postclosure criticality will be limited and to demonstrate that public health and safety are protected against postclosure criticality.
Acceptance Priority Ranking & Annual Capacity Report
Acceptance Priority Ranking & Annual Capacity Report
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended (the Act), assigns the Federal Government the responsibility for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste. Section 302a of the Act authorized the Secretary to enter into contracts with the owners and generators of commercial spent nuclear fuel and or high level waste. The Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and or High Level Radioactive Waste (Standard Contract) established the contractual mechanism for the Department's acceptance and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high level waste.
Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository License Application
Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository License Application
This “Technical Evaluation Report on the Content of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Yucca Mountain License Application; Postclosure Volume: Repository Safety After Permanent Closure” (TER Postclosure Volume) presents information on the NRC staff’s review of DOE’s Safety Analysis Report (SAR), provided on June 3, 2008, as updated by DOE on February 19, 2009. The NRC staff also reviewed information DOE provided in response to NRC staff’s requests for additional information and other information that DOE provided related to the SAR.
Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options
Civilian Nuclear Spent Fuel Temporary Storage Options
The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for a
permanent underground repository for highly radioactive spent fuel from nuclear reactors,
but delays have pushed back the facility’s opening date to 2010 at the earliest. In the
meantime, spent fuel is accumulating at U.S. nuclear plant sites at the rate of about 2,000
metric tons per year. Major options for managing those growing quantities of nuclear spent
fuel include continued storage at reactors, construction of a DOE interim storage site near
Report to Congress on Reassessment of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program
Report to Congress on Reassessment of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program
The success of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program of the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) is critical to U.S. ability to manage and dispose of
nuclear waste safely--and to the reestablishment of confidence in the nuclear energy
option in the United States. The program must conform with all applicable standards
and, in fact, set the example for a national policy on the safe disposal of radioactive
waste.
The Secretary of Energy has recently completed an extensive review of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act (Section 112) - Environmental Assessment, Yucca Mountain Site, Nevada Research and Development Area, Nevada, Volume 1
Nuclear Waste Policy Act (Section 112) - Environmental Assessment, Yucca Mountain Site, Nevada Research and Development Area, Nevada, Volume 1
By the end of this century, the United States plans to begin operating the first geologic repository for the permanent disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive Waste. Public Law 97-425, the Nuclear waste Policy Act of 1982 (the Act), specifies the process for selecting a repository site, and constructing, operating, closing, and decommissioning the repository.
Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future Draft Report to the Secretary of Energy
Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future Draft Report to the Secretary of Energy
America’s nuclear waste management program is at an impasse. The Obama Administration’s decision
to halt work on a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada is but the latest indicator of a policy that has
been troubled for decades and has now all but completely broken down. The approach laid out under
the 1987 Amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA)—which tied the entire U.S. high-level
waste management program to the fate of the Yucca Mountain site—has not worked to produce a
Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards, Executive Summary
Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards, Executive Summary
The United States currently has no place to dispose of the high-level radioactive waste
resulting from the production of the nuclear weapons and the operation of nuclear
electronic power plants. The only option under formal consideration at this time is to place
the waste in an underground geologic repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. However,
there is strong public debate about whether such a repository could protect humans from
the radioactive waste that will be dangerous for many thousands of years. This book
Data Qualification Report: Mineralogy Data for Use on the Yucca Mountain Project
Data Qualification Report: Mineralogy Data for Use on the Yucca Mountain Project
THE REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS BY THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY ON THE NEED FOR A SECOND REPOSITORY
THE REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS BY THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY ON THE NEED FOR A SECOND REPOSITORY
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended (NWPA), establishes a process for the siting, construction and operation of one or more national repositories for permanent disposal of the Nation’s spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). In 1987, after the Department of Energy (the Department or DOE) had conducted studies of nine potential repository sites located throughout the United States, Congress amended the NWPA and selected the Yucca Mountain site in Nye County, Nevada as the only site for further study for the first national repository.
Evaluation of Waste Stream Receipt Scenarios for Repository Loading
Evaluation of Waste Stream Receipt Scenarios for Repository Loading
The purpose of this calculation is to simulate the processing of an incoming waste stream into waste packages, simulating the required aging as applicable, and the emplacement of the waste packages into the Yucca Mountain repository.
Features, Events, and Processes for the Total System Performance Assessment: Analyses
Features, Events, and Processes for the Total System Performance Assessment: Analyses
The purpose of this analysis report is to document the screening decisions and technical bases for inclusion or exclusion of each FEP identified as relevant to the TSPA and the Yucca Mountain disposal system, in accordance with the regulatory screening criteria identified for the Yucca Mountain Site.
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982
An Act to provide for the development of repositories for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, to establish a program of research, de- velopment, and demonstration regarding the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, and for other purposes.
Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility Design Criteria Policy Document - 2nd Draft
Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility Design Criteria Policy Document - 2nd Draft
Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility Conceptual Design Report
Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility Conceptual Design Report
Criticality Consequence Calculation Involving Intact PWR MOX SNF in a Degraded 21 PWR Assembly Waste Package
Criticality Consequence Calculation Involving Intact PWR MOX SNF in a Degraded 21 PWR Assembly Waste Package
Commercial Nuclear Waste: Effects of a Termination of the Yucca Mountain Repository Program and Lessons Learned
Commercial Nuclear Waste: Effects of a Termination of the Yucca Mountain Repository Program and Lessons Learned
DOE decided to terminate the Yucca Mountain repository program because, according to DOE officials, it is not a workable option and there are better solutions that can achieve a broader national consensus. DOE did not cite technical or safety issues. DOE also did not identify alternatives, but it did create a Blue Ribbon Commission to evaluate and recommend alternatives.
Disposal and Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel — Finding the Right Balance
Disposal and Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel — Finding the Right Balance
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended, established a statutory basis
for managing the nation’s civilian (or commercially produced) spent nuclear
fuel. The law established a process for siting, developing, licensing, and constructing
an underground repository for the permanent disposal of that waste.
Utilities were given the primary responsibility for storing spent fuel until it is
accepted by the Department of Energy (DOE) for disposal at a repository —
originally expected to begin operating in 1998. Since then, however, the repository
Preliminary Site Requirements and Considerations for a Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility
Preliminary Site Requirements and Considerations for a Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility
In the November 1989 Report to Congress on Reassessment of the Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management Program (DOE/RW-0247), the Secretary of Energy
announced an initiative for developing a monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility
that is to start spent-fuel acceptance in 1998. This facility, which will be licensed by
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), will receive spent fuel from
commercial nuclear power plants and provide a limited amount of storage for this
Recommendation by the Secretary of Energy of Candidate Sites for Site Characterization for the First Radioactive Waste Repository
Recommendation by the Secretary of Energy of Candidate Sites for Site Characterization for the First Radioactive Waste Repository
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (the Act), established a
step-by-step process for the siting of the nation's first repository for
high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel. The Act gave the Department of
Energy (DOE) the primary responsibility for conducting this siting process.
The first step in the process laid out in the Act was the development by
the DOE, with the concurrence of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), of
general guidelines to be used by the Secretary of the DOE (the Secretary) in
Preliminary Feasibility Assessment for Several Specific MRS Design Alternatives with the Potential for Early Deployment Revision1
Preliminary Feasibility Assessment for Several Specific MRS Design Alternatives with the Potential for Early Deployment Revision1
This vintage 1990 document presents the results of WESTON'S preliminary assessment of the feasibility of several alternative fuel-transfer and storage concepts that have the potential for early spent-fuel acceptance at an MRS facility. The feasibility study was part of a series of studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) during the late 1980's and early 1990's in an effort to establish an MRS design configuration.
EBS Radionuclide Transport Abstraction
EBS Radionuclide Transport Abstraction
The purpose of this report is to develop and analyze the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) Radionuclide Transport Abstraction Model, consistent with Level I and Level II model validation, as identified in Technical Work Plan for: Near-Field Environment: Engineered Barrier System: Radionuclide Transport Abstraction Model Report (BSC 2006 [DIRS 177739]). The EBS Radionuclide Transport Abstraction (or RTA) is the conceptual model used in the Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) to determine the rate of radionuclide releases from the EBS to the unsaturated zone (UZ).
Analysis of the Total System Life Cycle Cost of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program
Analysis of the Total System Life Cycle Cost of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program
The Analysis of the Total System Life Cycle Cost (TSLCC) of the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program represents the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's most recent estimate of the costs to dispose of the Nations's spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). This TSLCC analysis projects all Program costs through 2119 for a surrogate, single potential repository. The design and emplacement concepts in this TSLCC analysis are the same as those presented in the Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document.