The Reactor and Fuel Cycle Technology Subcommittee was formed to respond to the charge—set forth in the charter of the Blue Ribbon Commission—to evaluate existing fuel cycle technologies and R&D programs in terms of multiple criteria.

To establish a new organization to manage nuclear waste, provide a consensual process for siting nuclear waste facilities, ensure adequate funding for managing nuclear waste, and for other purposes.

The purpose of this calculation is to document the McGuire Unit 1 pressurized water reactor (PWR) reactivity calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. CRC evaluation reactivity calculations are performed at a number of statepoints, representing reactor start-up critical conditions at either beginning of life (BOL), beginning of cycle (BOC), or mid-cycle when the reactor resumed operation after a shutdown.

After more than 20 years of commercial nuclear power, the Federal Government has yet to develop a broadly supported policy for fulfilling its legal responsibility for the final isolation of high-level radioactive waste. OTA's study concludes that until such a policy is adopted in law, there is a substantial risk that the false starts, shifts of policy, and fluctuating support that have plagued the final isolation program in the past will continue.

The purpose of this calculation is to develop an estimate of the isotopic content as a function of time for mixed oxide (MOX) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies in a Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR). These data will be used as source data for criticality, thermal, and radiation shielding evaluations of waste package (WP) designs for MOX assemblies in the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR).

This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development Department (WPDD) to provide an assessment of the present waste package design from a criticality risk standpoint. The specific objectives of this initial analysis are to:
1. Establish a process for determining the probability of waste package criticality as a function of time (in terms of a cumulative distribution function, probability distribution function, or expected number of criticalities in a specified time interval) for various waste package concepts;

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

The purpose of this calculation is to document the Crystal River Unit 3 pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel depletion calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. The CRC evaluations support the development and validation of the neutronics models used for criticality analyses involving commercial spent nuclear fuel in a geologic repository.

The purpose of this calculation is to document the McGuire Unit 1 pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel depletion calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. The CRC evaluations support the development and validation of the neutronics models used for criticality analyses involving commercial spent nuclear fuel in a geologic repository.

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

Dear Mr. President:
At your direction, the Secretary of Energy established the Blue Ribbon Commission on
America’s Nuclear Future to review policies for managing the back end of the nuclear
fuel cycle and recommend a new strategy. We are pleased to be serving as Co‐
Chairmen of the Commission, and we are writing to you to highlight an important action
we strongly believe should be reflected in your Fiscal Year 2013 baseline budget
projections.
In our draft report to the Secretary, issued in July of this year, the Commission

The purpose of this document is to present the methodology to be used for development of the Subcritical Limit (SL) for post closure conditions for the Yucca Mountain repository. The SL is a value based on a set of benchmark criticality multiplier, keff> results that are outputs of the MCNP calculation method. This SL accounts for calculational biases and associated uncertainties resulting from the use of MCNP as the method of assessing kerr·

The purpose of the material degradation and release (MDR) model is to predict the fate of the waste package materials, specifically the retention or mobilization of the radionuclides and the neutron-absorbing material as a function of time after the breach of a waste package during the 10,000 years after repository closure. The output of this model is used directly to assess the potential for a criticality event inside the waste package due to the retention of the radionuclides combined with a loss of the neutron-absorbing material.

Spent Fuel Project Office Interim Staff Guidance - 8

The Disposal Subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) addressed a wide-ranging set of issues, all bearing directly on the central question: “How can the United States go about establishing one or more disposal sites for high-level nuclear wastes in a manner and within a timeframe that is technically, socially, economically, and politically acceptable?”

This report evaluates the potential for directly disposing of licensed commercial Dual Purpose
Canisters (DPCs) inside waste package overpacks without reopening. The evaluation considers
the principal features of the DPC designs that have been licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) as these relate to the current designs of waste packages and as they relate to
disposability in the repository. Where DPC features appear to compromise future disposability,
those changes that would improve prospective disposability are identified.

The search for sites for radioactive waste management (RWM) facilities attracts attention from implementers, government bodies, local communities, and the public at large. Facility siting processes, in general, tend to be marred by conflicts, disagreements, and delays.

The purpose of this analysis is to provide an initial radionuclide inventory (in grams per waste package) and associated uncertainty distributions for use in the Total System Performance Assessment for the License Application (TSPA-LA) in support of the license application for the repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This document is intended for use in postclosure analysis only.

Spent Fuel Project Office, Interim Staff Guidance - 8, Revision 1

How to dispose of highly radioactive wastes from commercial nuclear power plants is a question that has remained unresolved in the face rapidly changing technological, economic, and political requirements. In the three decades following WWII, two federal agencies -- the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration -- tried unsuccessfully to develop a satisfactory plan for managing high level wastes.